


Trying to Find the Truth

by dragonydreams



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: M/M, Multi, Season Re-Write, Tommy POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-05
Updated: 2016-03-04
Packaged: 2018-05-18 10:49:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 44,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5925703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonydreams/pseuds/dragonydreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver and Tommy work through their issues and come to a realization about each other, with Felicity's help. Tommy's POV.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Big huge thank you to angelskuuipo for being the best sounding board and hand holder I could ask for. You really helped me when I was struggling with re-writing some of these chapters and this story wouldn't be what it is without your help. Thanks also to apckrfan for lending a second set of eyes.
> 
> Author's Note 1: Title from the song "The Feeling" by Justin Bieber (featuring Halsey).
> 
> Author's Note 2: This story got away from me a bit. It started with the opening scene in my head and when I wrote what became the first half of the first chapter, I thought that was it. I'd gotten the scene out of my head. Then Tommy decided that he would, reluctantly, join the team and get involved in the rest of the season's storylines he wasn't originally a part of. I figured that this could also be my chance to write a Smoaking Billionaires story, which I've wanted to try. Only the boys decided the focus should be on them since there aren't a lot of long Tommy/Oliver fics out there (at least that I have been able to find). So while there is some threesome interaction, it is not the focus of this story. I hope you enjoy the ride as much as I've enjoyed writing it.

The door reverberated as it bounced off the wall behind it when it was thrown open into Tommy's office. He startled from the spot behind his desk, head jerking up, not just from the door slamming open but because of the woman who came storming in.

"What did you do to my babies?" she demanded.

Tommy's eyes widened in shock as he hastily got to his feet. "Excuse me? I'm pretty sure I've never met you before, let alone done anything to your babies."

Oliver strode into the room behind the irate blonde. "Felicity, calm down," he said, grasping her elbow.

"I can't find them anywhere in that mess. He needs to tell me what he did to them," she insisted, turning to face Oliver.

"Felicity, is it?" Tommy hedged, "I can promise you, I haven't seen any children in here."

Felicity gaped at him as Oliver spoke. "She's talking about the computers, Tommy. Felicity works with me in the basement."

"In the basement," Tommy repeated, slowly. He ran his eyes over Felicity again; surprised that such a feisty, gorgeous woman would willingly help Oliver kill people. His body language shifted, immediately becoming more standoffish, as if the word reminded him that he was angry with Oliver. "Do you know what he does down there?"

"Of course I do," Felicity huffed, crossing her arms across her chest. "Who do you think tracks down the criminals?"

"Her?" he asked Oliver, incredulously. "You involved a girl in your killing mission?"

"It's not like that," Oliver started to say, but was cut off by Felicity.

"Excuse me, but the _girl_ is standing right here."

"Look, lady, I'm sure you're a nice girl… Actually, no, I'm not, if you're willingly involved in his _mission_..."

"That's enough, Tommy," Oliver interjected, moving to block Felicity from Tommy's eye line. "You can hate me all you want, but you will not talk to my friends like that."

"Oh, so she's your friend. She gets to know all about your secret life but not the guy you've known practically since birth?" Tommy had to turn away before his emotions got the better of him. Being furious with Oliver was so much better than showing how much keeping this secret hurt him.

"It's because I've known you my whole life that I couldn't tell you," Oliver said, quietly.

"How does that make any kind of sense?"

Oliver sighed. Felicity gave him an encouraging nod of her head before slipping from the room.

"If you're willing to listen, I'd like to explain why I felt I couldn't tell you," Oliver pleaded.

"You mean you want to rationalize how you've become a murderer," Tommy spewed.

"If that's what it will take to get you to listen, then yes," Oliver agreed. "Only I hope that you'll come to understand once you've heard my story. I haven't even told Felicity and Digg what I'd like to tell you."

Tommy turned to look at Oliver, his curiosity piqued. While he hated being mad at Oliver, he didn't think there was anything he could say that would change his mind about what he'd heard about the Vigilante. He was also still hurt that Oliver could think that he'd be selling drugs out of their - his - club.

"You've got one shot to talk about this and that's it," Tommy offered.

"That's all I'm asking," Oliver gratefully accepted.

"In that case, I think you're going to need this," Felicity said, walking back in carrying a bottle of vodka and two shot glasses.

"Where did you get that?" Oliver asked.

"When did you get that?" Tommy asked, having been so focused on Oliver that he hadn't seen her leave.

"Just now, from behind the bar." At Tommy's raised eyebrow she said, "What? It's your bar. It's not stealing if you're drinking liquor from your own bar."

"Thank you, Felicity," Oliver said, taking the bottle and glasses from her.

"Yeah, thanks," Tommy reluctantly agreed. He would definitely need the alcohol to hear this story.

"Just, try not to kill each other. The city kind of needs Oliver," she said, turning to leave.

"Uh, Felicity," Tommy called. When she turned back to him he continued, "I just put empty liquor boxes over the monitors and computers after unplugging everything. Your babies should be right where you left them."

"Oh, thank God," she exclaimed and rushed from the room. Her heels could be heard running down the stairs and across the empty nightclub.

Tommy caught the small smile tugging at the corners of Oliver's mouth and he wondered if there wasn't more to their friendship than just vigilantism.

Oliver closed the door before moving to sit on the couch and pouring each of them a shot.

"Prochnost," he said, raising the glass.

"Yeah, cheers." Tommy raised his glass and slammed back the shot. "What language was that?"

"Russian," Oliver answered.

"Right, dinner that first night back... and the model… I'm guessing you didn't learn Russian from the model."

"There was no model. During part of my time away I became involved with the Bratva, the Russian mob. They taught me Russian."

"Now I know you're pulling my leg," Tommy said, standing to pace.

Oliver stood as well and slipped out of his leather jacket before lifting his shirt over his head.

"Whoa man, what do you think you're doing?" Tommy protested when Oliver began to remove his clothes.

"This is going to help tell my story faster than words will," Oliver said, tossing the shirt aside.

Tommy goggled at him. "Your mom said there was scarring, but I had no idea," he muttered mostly to himself.

Pointing to the tattoo above his heart, Oliver said, "This tattoo is a symbol that means that I am a Captain with the Bratva."

Coming closer, Tommy said, "Some of those look like bullet wounds." His hand lifted of its own accord as if to reach out to trace the various scars before Tommy realized what was happening and forced his arm back to his side.

Oliver nodded. "Some are. Some are from arrows or knives or swords." He turned around, trying not to stiffen at Tommy's gasp. "Some are burn marks."

"Swords, really?" Tommy asked.

Pointing to the scars, Oliver said, "A couple of weeks after I washed up on the island I was captured by some mercenaries and tortured."

"That wasn't your only time being tortured, was it?"

"No, it wasn't."

"So, what? You weren't alone on that island and were tortured and who knows what else and that makes it okay for you to run around town killing people now?"

Oliver pulled his shirt back on and poured himself another drink before answering. "My father didn't die when the boat went down."

"What does that have--"

"I'm trying to explain," Oliver cut him off. "Please, just let me tell you this part of the story."

"Fine." Tommy sat back down and had another shot as well. "Talk."

"We both made it to the life raft along with one of the crew. My father shot him, and himself, after telling me that he had failed his city and he needed me to right his wrongs."

"Isn't that your catchphrase?" Tommy interrupted.

Oliver nodded. "When I buried him, I found what I thought was a blank notebook in one of his pockets, but when it was exposed to fire it filled in with writing. It was a list of names. All of the people who had failed this city in some way or another."

"It was your kill book," Tommy surmised.

"No, it was more than that. It was a list of people poisoning this city, _my_ city. Every slumlord, every politician and one percenter who thought that they could cut corners and get rich while making those less fortunate suffer. They need to be cleansed. They need to learn that they can't get away with it anymore."

"And it's your job to teach them that lesson?" Tommy challenged. "By killing them?"

"Only if they wouldn't listen to reason. If they wouldn't agree to fix the problem they created," Oliver countered. "And not at all since Felicity got involved."

"I guess I can be grateful for her involvement, in that case," Tommy sneered. "Although I don't understand how you could have involved her. She seems so nice."

"She is," Oliver agreed. "I had found a laptop from an assassin I was tracking that no longer worked and I took it to her in the IT department at Queen Consolidated. She helped me out even though she knew I was lying to her and I just kept going back to her for help. When my mom shot me, I found her car and she got me back here so Digg could get the bullet out. She's been a part of the team ever since. She even managed to get me to change how I do things. She made me see that there's another way."

"That doesn't change how many lives you took before she made you see the light," Tommy pointed out, with less venom in his voice.

"No, it doesn't. On the island I killed to survive. When I got back, those instincts were still very much intact. It was the life I'd known for so long where almost everyone I encountered was an enemy. It was often safer to shoot first and ask questions later." Oliver shifted slightly, turning to meet Tommy's eyes.

"The people I have gone after since I've been back are bad people. They have ruined hundreds if not thousands of lives over the years and they are unrepentant about it. They deserved what they got."

"And who made you their judge, jury and executioner?"

"The legal system that failed their victims," Oliver responded. "These people had the police and judges in their pockets and no matter how many times they were arrested they would always get away with it. Just ask Laurel."

"Don't you dare bring her into this," Tommy snarled.

Oliver held up his hands in surrender. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"Let's deal with one touchy subject at a time," Tommy suggested.

"Deal." They each took another shot.

"Look, once we get the lair back to normal, I want you to come down and observe an operation," Oliver suggested.

"Do I get a costume too?" Tommy snarked.

"No, you'll be staying in the basement with Felicity and listening in on comms," Oliver quickly said.

"You're serious?"

"Completely. It may have taken me some time to figure out what I'm doing here, but I'm just trying to make my city a better place the only way that I can. Come see how we are doing things now."

"I don't know if I can forgive you for the lives you've taken," Tommy told him. "Or for the way you doubted me this week."

"I understand; but do you think you could eventually move past it to be my best friend again?" Oliver asked, allowing his desperate hope to show on his face. "I'd really like to get to know the man you are now, if you're willing to do the same for me. No more lies."

"I honestly don't know," Tommy said, "but I'm willing to see if you're someone I want to be friends with."

"I'll take what I can get," Oliver said with a genuine smile.

~~*~~

Tommy was organizing the bar a few days later when John Diggle slowly approached him from the hallway that lead to the basement.

"Mr. Merlyn, are you still interested in observing a mission?" he asked by way of greeting.

Tommy stiffened slightly and then nodded curtly. "Oliver has another name to cross off his list?"

"He does," Diggle said. "Come on down and you can hear the briefing."

"You don't know who he's going after?" Tommy asked in surprise.

Diggle shook his head. "Not yet. Felicity just told us she had a hit on one of several people we've been looking into. Oliver asked her to wait until I'd invited you to join us."

"And everyone's okay with me being there?"

"Felicity is all for trying to mend the rift between you and Oliver. As am I. Oliver has a good mission and I'd like you to be able to believe that too."

"Alright, let's get this over with," Tommy said, tossing away the towel he'd unconsciously been playing with.

"Your enthusiasm astounds me," Diggle said drolly, heading for the basement stairs.

"Be glad I'm coming at all," Tommy replied.

"I am," Diggle sincerely stated, punching in the code to unlock the door.

"How are you okay with this?" Tommy asked. "You always seemed like such a law-respecting citizen."

"I am. I also know that the law doesn't always help those it is supposed to protect. I'll admit that I was in a similar position as you when I first found out about Oliver's nighttime activities, but after some serious thought and taking a hard look at the state of the city, I came around. I also didn't like the idea of Oliver out there on his own without backup. In the Army, you don't send a brother into battle without backup."

Tommy remembered when Oliver was like a brother to him with a pain in his chest. In truth, Oliver had been more than his brother. He'd been the one person he could always rely on. He really wanted to believe that man was still in there somewhere. He just wasn't sure that he could.

"So, should I call you John or Diggle or what?" Tommy asked to try and get his mind off the fact that he was about to witness whatever it was Oliver did now.

"Diggle is fine. If you stick around, my friends call me Digg," he answered mildly.

Tommy nodded vaguely as he noticed that the basement had been restored to its former set-up as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

Felicity was sitting at a table with three monitors on it, rapidly switching between several files. Every so often she'd glance up to watch a shirtless Oliver clang his way up some kind of exercise equipment unlike anything Tommy had seen before. It was rather mesmerizing. While his friend had always been fit, Tommy didn't remember him ever having such a cut physique.

When Oliver spotted them, he dropped to the floor and grabbed a towel that had been hanging from the equipment and began to wipe off his face and chest.

"Tommy, I'm glad you could join us," Oliver said, walking closer.

Felicity spun around, pretending that they'd snuck up on her, not wanting to let on that she'd heard Diggle's speech. "Me too."

"Uh, yeah, we'll see about that," Tommy said.

"Felicity, what have we got?" Oliver asked, getting down to business.

Turning back to the monitors, Felicity hit a few keys on the keyboard to pull up a file. "Meet Matthew Littlefield."

"The plastic surgeon?" Tommy asked, moving closer to the monitors.

Digg smirked and moved in as well.

"The very one," Felicity confirmed. Glancing back over her shoulder, she asked, "You know him?"

"Not personally. I've seen him around at various charity functions. From what I hear, he's the best Starling City has to offer. Hell, he's the best in 100 miles. How'd he make the kill list?"

"It's _not_ a kill list," Oliver muttered under his breath. Felicity shushed him.

"When Dr. Littlefield isn't beautifying Starling City's elite, he's stealing and selling internal organs from the desperate citizens of The Glades, on the black market. People who are desperate for money go to him to sell their organs. More often than not, he just takes what he wants and doesn't pay up. He's got an appointment, not in his legitimate office, tonight."

"How do you even find out stuff like this?" Tommy exclaimed.

"I'm just that good," Felicity beamed. "I won't bore you with the details, but the trail exists if you know what you're looking for; and my programs know how to connect the dots."

Oliver silently slid his hand onto her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, causing her to smile up at him. "Good work, Felicity."

Oliver crossed to where a long green wooden trunk sat on a table and flipped open the lid, removing his bow.

"So, what are you going to do?" Tommy asked, getting in Oliver's face.

"I'm going to have a little conversation with the good doctor," Oliver said. "Then I'm going to leave him for the police to find, surrounded by evidence of his crimes."

"You're going to help the police?" Tommy questioned, doubtfully. "I thought you said the police couldn't deal with the people on your list."

"When we're able to provide enough evidence for a charge to stick, we go to the police," Felicity said. 

Oliver slipped away to change into his suit while Felicity was talking.

"What's your role here?" Tommy asked Diggle when he realized Oliver was no longer in the area.

"Depends on who we're going after," Diggle said, shrugging one shoulder. "Tonight I'll be accompanying Oliver in case Littlefield has some hired muscle hanging around. If he's not paying out like he promises, you can bet he's gonna have thugs on hand."

"Do you get a costume too?"

"Naw, man. What you see is what you get," Diggle said.

"You're not worried about concealing your identity?"

"If I'm doing my job right, they don't see me at all." Diggle crossed his arms over his chest.

Tommy blinked at the massive biceps on display under Diggle's t-shirt. "No, I guess not."

"He takes a ski mask with him, just in case, though," Felicity added, with a pointed glare.

"Yes, I do," Diggle agreed. He could see Oliver returning, so he moved to the gun cabinet and retrieved his pistol, ammo and holster while Oliver strapped on his arm, thigh and main quiver.

When he was fully outfitted, Oliver stepped up to Felicity's table and picked up one of the comms she had set out while Tommy was grilling Diggle and placed it in his ear. Once Diggle was situated with his gun in the holster, he did the same.

Tommy approached the table and picked up the remaining comm. After turning it over in his hands for several seconds, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and placed it in his ear.

"Don't you get one?" he asked Felicity.

"Already in," she said, turning her head so he could see the device.

"Woah, echo," Tommy exclaimed.

"Yeah, we'll have a bit of that since we're both gonna be in the same room. You don't get that when we're separated."

"You coming in the van or taking the bike?" Diggle asked Oliver, getting down to business.

"Bike," Oliver said. "We might need to split up if it gets hairy." Diggle grunted in agreement.

"It's a surgeon, how much trouble could there be?" Tommy asked.

"It's not the doctor we need to worry about," Oliver said, turning to go, "it's the muscle."

"Be safe," Felicity called after them as Oliver and Diggle headed out to their vehicles.

"Now what?" Tommy asked, turning back to Felicity.

"Now we follow them," Felicity said. "You might want to pull up a chair."

Tommy found a chair near one of the other tables and brought it over next to Felicity, who was busy pulling up a city map on one screen and traffic cameras on another.

"The green dot is Oliver and the blue dot is Digg," she explained, pointing to the dots on the city map.

"You have tracking devices on them?" Tommy asked in surprise.

"Of course. In their shoes. Mine's in my industrial piercing," she shared, pointing it out.

"Will our talking distract Oliver?" Tommy asked.

"Nope. I've got our comms on mute for now," Felicity said, pointing to a small display on one of the monitors.

"You're sneaky fast, you know that?" Tommy said, a note of admiration in his voice as he settled back to look at her.

Felicity shrugged, eyes fixed on the monitors tracking Oliver and Diggle. Without looking at him, Felicity said, "You can ask, you know."

"Ask what?" he responded, sitting up straighter and averting his eyes as Felicity turned towards him.

"Why I work with Oliver," Felicity said. "I heard you and Digg talking. I know you don't approve of what we're doing. So go ahead and ask already."

Tommy huffed out a laugh. This woman was something else and he was starting to understand why Oliver wanted her around. Smart, beautiful women were hard to resist, for the both of them.

"Alright, fine. You're right, I am curious. Why are you helping him?"

Keeping one eye on the monitors, Felicity said, "I want to find Walter; Mr. Steele."

Tommy frowned. That wasn't what he'd been expecting at all. "Thea's step-father?"

Felicity bit her bottom lip and nodded. "He was nice to me. I was looking into a couple of things for him before he disappeared and I think the reason he was taken was because of the things he was having me research."

"You think he discovered something he shouldn't have?" Tommy asked, surprised by this theory. "Pissed off the wrong person?"

"He'd given me a blank notebook that belonged to Oliver's mom. Only it wasn't really blank," Felicity said, looking pointedly at Tommy.

He sucked in a breath. "It was a list like Oliver's," he guessed.

"Exactly like Oliver's," Felicity confirmed. "After Mr. Steele disappeared I gave it to Oliver and even though he denied recognizing it - I wasn't part of the 'team' yet - I could tell he did. I think that's one reason Oliver fully brought me in; I can always see through his lies."

"And you just said yes when he asked you to join up?"

"Not exactly," Felicity hedged. "I mean, it was kinda hard to say no when he asked me right after nearly dying in my car after his mother shot him. I told him I'd stay and help find Walter, but I wasn't going to help him kill."  
"Bet he took that well," Tommy said.

"As well as you'd expect. We don't always agree with how he does this job, but he's coming around. He can do so much good for this city, if only he'd let himself believe that he can be the hero that I know he can be."

"You're a little in love with him," Tommy guessed. From the way Felicity flinched and blushed, he knew he was right.

Something beeped on the computer, saving Felicity from having to look at him as she said, "I don't know what you're talking about." After a beat, she added, "They're there."

As if on cue, Oliver's voice came over the comms, "What do you see, Felicity?"

She unmuted hers and Tommy's, pulling up a window with security camera feeds that had been in the background of one of the monitors. Tommy hadn't realized she'd already hacked into the feed, although he supposed it made sense for her to be one step ahead of the team.

"One guy guarding a side entrance. That must be nearest to where the doctor is operating, no pun intended. I don't see anyone else outside, but that doesn't mean there aren't more inside. No cameras inside. I see 3 cars - one for the vic, one for the doc and one for the goons. No way to know exactly how many goons, though."

"Roger," Diggle said.

Tommy watched as the guard Felicity had pointed out fell as his leg was shot out from under him. He was vaguely aware of Felicity's fingers moving over the keyboard, but didn't pay any attention to it until the camera feed winked out.

"Hey, what happened?" he exclaimed.

"Tommy," Oliver growled in warning.

"Sorry," Felicity apologized, muting Tommy's comm again. "He's been muted."

"What the hell just happened?" Tommy fumed. "Where did the picture go? How do we know what happens now?"

Felicity muted her own comm and smiled knowingly. "I cut the feed. We don't want any visual evidence of the Vigilante's presence."

"But we can't see!"

"Welcome to my world of worry," Felicity said.

"So you just sit down here not knowing what's going on? How do you stand it?"

"Ice cream. Lots and lots of ice cream," Felicity responded. "And wine."

"Next time I'm bringing the wine," Tommy said.

"Next time?" Felicity repeated, hopefully.

"We'll see," Tommy hedged. "I make no promises."

"We're in," Oliver briefed them.

Felicity was still grinning when she turned back to her monitors, starting the outdoor security feed live again to watch for any guards they may have missed.

Through the comms, they heard a door slam open.

"I love this part," Felicity whispered, mostly to herself.

"Matthew Littlefield, you have failed this city. Drop the scalpel."

They could hear the twick of an arrow being released and a howl of pain as it hit its target. They could also hear gunfire.

Felicity held her breath and blindly reached for Tommy's hand, which he readily offered. If he were honest with himself, he needed the contact as much as she did.

His eyes were wide as he helplessly listened to the sounds of gunshots and arrows being fired until suddenly there was silence.

"Oliver?" Felicity desperately asked.

"We're okay," he answered. "How's the patient?"

"Vitals seem steady," Digg responded. "They were just about to start when we got here. He's just unconscious from the anesthesia."

Tommy tapped the monitor, signaling Felicity to unmute him. When she did, he asked, "And Dr. Littlefield?"

"Arrow to the shoulder but otherwise fine," Oliver reported. "He'll have a bruise on his face from where I knocked him out. Felicity, make the call."

Felicity picked up the cell phone that had been sitting in front of her all evening. Tommy was a bit surprised to see Laurel's father's photo flash across the screen as Felicity raised it to her ear.

"Good evening, Detective. You might be interested in swinging by the warehouse at 5th and Mason tonight. Oh, and bring an ambulance."

"You do know that Lance hates Oliver," Tommy said when Felicity ended the call. "Also, won't he recognize your voice by now?"

"Oh, we know," she said. "But he's a good cop. And this phone has a voice modulator."

Tommy just shook his head in wonder.

"How's the cleanup going?" Felicity asked.

"Littlefield and his five goons are all zip tied and unconscious in the surgical room," Digg informed her. "Lance on his way?"

"He is. Come on home," Felicity said.

"On our way," Oliver confirmed.

Felicity continued to watch the monitor with the trackers until she saw them leave the area, then she turned to face Tommy. "So?"

"So? So what?"

"So, is this what you thought it would be?" Felicity pressed.

Tommy glanced at the monitors quickly and removed his comm, setting it carefully on the table. He stood and began to pace, dragging a hand over his face.

"That was torture," he admitted. "How do you do that every night?"

"Because I can help keep him safe," Felicity said, rising. "I can be his eyes from here."

"But you weren't. You couldn't see a damn thing," Tommy protested, waving an arm at the monitors.

"Tonight, maybe. I didn't cut that feed until after I'd told Oliver how many guards there were outside and where he was. Then I was able to watch for more guards once they were in."

"But you couldn't see what was happening inside."

"Not tonight, but sometimes I can. I can disable security systems and scramble camera feeds and help keep Oliver safe. I can help make sure he doesn't get caught."

"And I'm grateful for that," Tommy admitted.

"Are you?" Felicity asked, tilting her head.

"Of course I am," Tommy said. "I may be furious with him, but he's still my best friend."

"Am I?" Oliver asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.

Tommy spun around, silently cursing Oliver's stealth. He seemed to get back there awfully fast. Seeing the hopeful look on Oliver's face, Tommy sagged. "Of course you are."

Oliver set his bow on a table as he quickly crossed the room to pull Tommy into a tight hug, which Tommy returned.

"I've missed you," Oliver quietly said against his neck.

Tommy shivered, holding Oliver a little tighter as he whispered back, "I've missed you, too. You have no idea how much."

When he pulled back, he saw Felicity pulling Diggle up the stairs to the club.

"I take it that wasn't what you were expecting for tonight?" Oliver asked as he began to remove his gear.

"Not in the least. No one died. Plus, I got the pleasure of not knowing if you were alive or dead when all I could hear was a gun fight."

Oliver paused while removing his jacket, looking up at Tommy, knowing there was actual fear under the light tone.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that. I'm sure it couldn't have been easy."

"It wasn't. I still don't know how Felicity does that every night." Tommy licked his lips as Oliver finished stripping out of his jacket and t-shirt. Did he not believe in wearing shirts down here? No wonder Felicity had a crush on Oliver. Tommy pushed his latent desire for his best friend down, again. At this point, it was second nature.

"She's not always blind. In fact, she usually isn't," Oliver said.

Tommy nodded. "That's what she told me. It sounds like you're lucky to have found her."

"I know that I am. When I first came back, I thought that I could do this on my own. As I slowly let Diggle and Felicity in, now I can't imagine doing this without them."

"You make a good team," Tommy agreed. "I don't think there's a place for me on it, though."

"Because you don't want to be?" Oliver asked.

Tommy found himself shaking his head. "Because there's nothing that I could bring to the team. I don't have computer skills like Felicity, or firearm skills and Army training like Diggle. Besides, I don't think I could sit here and listen to you risk your life night after night."

"You can still be a part of the team. Just being here and supporting us - supporting me - would be enough. It would mean the world to me."

Tommy's breath caught in his throat at the intensity in Oliver's eyes. He hadn't even realized that they'd gotten so close to each other. There was a longing in Oliver's eyes that he never expected to see reflected back at him and it scared him.

"No more keeping me in the dark? No more lies to keep me safe?" Tommy countered.

"I'm always going to want to keep you safe, but I'll try not to lie to do so." When it looked like Tommy was going to protest, Oliver took a step closer so they were nearly touching. "That's the best I can do right now."

"I guess I'll have to take it," Tommy acknowledged, his hands itching to touch Oliver with him so close, but refraining.

Oliver took a step back. "Let me get cleaned up and we can go grab a beer."

"Make it something stronger and you've got a deal," Tommy countered with a grin.

"You're on," Oliver agreed, jogging to the bathroom in the back.

Tommy look around him at the dark monitors, training equipment and other tools and wondered what he'd gotten himself into.

With a grin still pasted to his face, he realized that he was looking forward to finding out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starts at the end of 1x20 (Home Invasion). Some dialogue borrowed from episode.

Tommy stood by the stairs, arms crossed over his chest, watching as Detective Lance questioned Oliver about the dead bodyguards and assassin in the vestibule of Queen Manor. Lance didn't look like he believed what Oliver was saying. Smart man. Feeling a sudden need to help protect Oliver's story, Tommy piped up. "Mr. Robbins was a real hero. If it weren't for him, we'd all be dead."

The derision was written all over Lance's face. He wasn't the least bit surprised that Tommy would back Oliver's story. "I've got enough details for my report. I'll clear my boys out of here. Let's go."

Oliver walked past him, but then turned to watch Lance go. Or, rather, to watch Laurel take Taylor back upstairs.

"You still love her. Don't you?" Tommy asked, watching Laurel until she was out of view before turning to face Oliver.

"It doesn't matter how I feel. Because of what I do I could never be with her. You see, you don't have anything to be afraid of. She is never, ever, going to know my secret," Oliver promised.

"It doesn't matter if she knows. I know. And I don't know how to be with Laurel knowing the entire time, that if she ever found out who you really are, she would choose you."

Tommy turned and began to climb the stairs, intent on grabbing his overnight bag so they could go back to Laurel's.

Oliver caught up with him on the landing. "Tommy, wait."

"There's nothing more to talk about," Tommy insisted, continuing up the stairs.

Oliver bounded ahead of him, blocking his path. "I disagree."

Tommy brushed past him and Oliver followed. Tommy hoped that Oliver wouldn't follow him all the way to the room he and Laurel were supposed to share.

As they reached Oliver's bedroom, Tommy breathed a sigh of relief when Oliver opened the door, only to have it stolen from him when he was yanked into the room as well, the door closing behind him.

"What the hell, Ollie?" Tommy practically yelled.

"We need to talk about this," Oliver insisted, leaning against the door and folding his impressive arms across his chest.

Tommy threw his hands up, pacing away from him. "Talk about what? I'm not telling Lance that you're the Hood. I'm not going to date Laurel anymore either. What more is there to discuss?"

"You can't break up with Laurel," Oliver stated.

"I can't…" Tommy was flabbergasted. "Excuse me? You have no say in who I date. Ever."

Oliver winced. "What I meant to say is that you can't break up with Laurel because of me."

"Look, Oliver," Tommy started, "I know that when you and Laurel were together you had no trouble lying to her. I never understood how you could cheat on and lie to such a great girl, to be honest. But I am not you. I can't lie to her at every turn, even if it's a lie of omission. I won't."

Despite his fear at what Oliver would see; Tommy met his eyes.

Oliver inhaled sharply and stumbled from the door to his bed. Tommy knew that he got it.

"You're choosing me over her?" Oliver said, lost eyes looking up at Tommy. Too much emotion swirled through the blue depths, giving Tommy a sliver of hope.

Tommy crossed to sit next to Oliver on the bed, close enough that their thighs were pressed together. "I will always choose you. Even when I'm mad at you and hate some of your life choices, I am always going to have your back."

He'd been staring at Oliver's hands while he'd been talking. Oliver was rubbing his right thumb and fingers together, a tick he didn't have prior to the Island. His knuckles were red and bloody. Tommy reached out and took the hand closest to him in his as he finished speaking.

"Tommy…" Oliver choked out, squeezing his hand.

Tommy leaned into Oliver, intending to pull him into a hug, but it seemed Oliver had other ideas.

Oliver reached up with his free hand to guide Tommy's head towards his as he pulled him into a tentative kiss.

Tommy's eyes widened in shock. While the kiss was unexpected, it was very much desired.

He pulled his hand free from Oliver's, and before he could get the wrong idea, he brought both hands up to pull Oliver's face closer, deepening the kiss. Oliver groaned against his mouth and pulled Tommy closer.

Oliver chased Tommy's tongue as he pulled back several minutes later, growling in disappointment that the kiss seemed to be ending.

Tommy laughed. "Did you just growl at me?"

Oliver blinked. "Uh, yeah, I guess I did." He hung his head sheepishly, looking up at Tommy through his eyelashes. "As you may have noticed, the Island left me a little more feral than I used to be."

"I wasn't complaining," Tommy admitted. "That was actually pretty damn hot."

"You don't say?" Oliver said, using his Hood voice and growling again as he pounced on Tommy. Tommy fell back on the bed, laughing, hating that _that_ voice went straight to his cock. He should not be turned on by the Vigilante's growly voice. He doubted that if it was anyone but Oliver that he would have been.

All thoughts swiftly drained out of Tommy's head as Oliver claimed his mouth, immediately pressing his tongue between his parted lips, stroking it against his own.

Tommy ran his hands over Oliver's back, feeling the muscle definition, and the scars, that hadn't been there before he'd ~~died~~ disappeared. He desperately wanted to explore Oliver's body without the shirt, but neither of them were quite ready for that.

When they finally parted for air, both panting, Oliver whispered, "It's been way too long since we've done that."

Tommy licked his lips, chasing the taste of Oliver. "I didn't think you'd be interested. Not after so long. Not with how hard you seemed to pursue Laurel when you got back," he admitted.

Oliver sighed and started to pull away, but Tommy held him close, causing Oliver to adjust his body so that he was propped up on one elbow lying on his side.

"My desire to get close to Laurel had less to do with wanting to get back together than it was to make amends," Oliver admitted, toying with the zipper on Tommy's sweater.

"I thought your love for Laurel was what helped you survive on the Island," Tommy retorted, trying not to sound bitter. "At least that's what you kept telling everyone."

"It's what I told myself. I had this photo of Laurel that she gave to me on the dock as I was getting ready to leave on the Gambit with Sara. Sara died because of me and all that I wanted to do was have Laurel not hate me for it. I told myself that she would forgive me, like she'd forgiven me for all of the other girls." Oliver shook his head. "I was an idiot."

"You kind of were," Tommy said, smiling.

"So much for always having my back," Oliver pouted, playfully. It was much sexier than it should have been.

"Ollie, you cheated on Laurel with her baby sister, who died as a result." Tommy tried not to wince at the look of pain that flashed across Oliver's face. "She was never going to get back together with you."

"I know that now. I know that it will never happen again between Laurel and me. That doesn't mean you can't still make it work with her."

Tommy reached up to trace the line of Oliver's jaw. "This has got to be the most surreal conversation of my life." When Oliver just quirked an eyebrow at him, he continued. "I'm lying here, on your bed, in your arms, after some incredible kisses _with you_ , and you're trying to get me to not break up with your ex-girlfriend. That's seriously fucked up."

Oliver shrugged. "I want you to be happy. Both of you."

"And you don't think you can make me happy?" Tommy guessed.

"I…" Oliver stopped and frowned, as if the thought had never even occurred to him. "Are you saying that you want me to make you happy?"

Tommy waggled his eyebrows lasciviously, causing Oliver to laugh. "I'm being serious, Tommy."

"You're being too serious," Tommy countered. Sobering, he added, "Don't tell me you've never thought about it."

"Us fooling around, of course. It's not like we haven't done that before. But us as a...couple," he shook his head, "I never let myself think about it."

"Because it's not something you want?" Tommy pressed.

"Because it's not something I let myself want. Tommy, be honest, if we had ever tried to be together before, really be together and not just fucked around, it never would have worked. Our fathers would never have let it work."

"Well, my father has already cut me off," Tommy pointed out. "So that's no deterrent now. Neither is your father. Perhaps your womanizing tendencies..."

"You're one to talk, Mr. Never Been in a Serious Relationship Until Recently."

"So you're saying you want to be with me, but you'd miss being with women?" Tommy asked.

"Is that what you're saying?" Oliver countered.

"Once again, I point out that this conversation is a bit ridiculous," Tommy huffed.

"Fine," Oliver sighed. "I haven't let myself get serious about anyone since I've been back because what I do is dangerous. I can't risk putting anyone I care about in danger. Especially you. Just look at what happened with McKenna."

"As you might have noticed, I'm already in danger. Or did you already forget about the dead bodyguards and assassin downstairs; or Helena nearly breaking my arm?" Tommy pointed out. "If I'm willing to take the risk to be with you, I think you should let me. You deserve to be happy, too. And I'm more than willing to be the one to make you happy."

Oliver leaned down to kiss Tommy again, pouring everything he was feeling and unable to say into the kiss. Oliver was starting to pull down the zipper to remove Tommy's sweater when there was a knock at the door.

"Ollie, have you seen Tommy?" Laurel's voice called out, separating them faster than a bucket of ice water.

"Shit," Tommy swore quietly.

Both men stood up and Oliver crossed to open the door.

"Laurel, hi," Oliver said, keeping his lower body as much behind the door as possible. "Yeah, Tommy's in here."

Tommy quickly moved into view, trying to not look guilty and probably failing.

Laurel gave them each a curious look, before focusing on Tommy. "I just wondered if you were coming to bed soon."

"Right. Sorry, Ollie and I got to talking and lost track of time. You didn't want to go back to your place?"

"I did, but it's really late and Taylor was exhausted. I didn't want to uproot him more than I had to. We'll go back to my place in the morning." She turned to Oliver, "Your mom said that was okay."

"Of course," Oliver quickly agreed. "Stay as long as you want."

"Go get ready for bed," Tommy said, leaning over to kiss Laurel's cheek. "I'll be right there. Ollie and I just need a few more minutes to finish our discussion."

Laurel tilted her head but didn't question him. "Okay. Good night, Ollie. Thanks again, for everything."

Oliver smiled. "You're welcome. Good night."

Once Laurel moved away down the hallway, Oliver shut the door and closed the distance between himself and Tommy. Tommy met him halfway as they reached for each other, meeting in a messy kiss.

"I'm breaking up with Laurel tomorrow," Tommy said, his forehead pressed against Oliver's. "We are going to see where this leads, once and for all."

"Move in here," Oliver suggested.

"Getting a little ahead of yourself there, aren't you? Moving in together is a big step," Tommy teased, leaning back so he could see Oliver's expression.

An expression that was rolling its eyes at him. "Not 'move in with me'. Just, 'move in here'. Take your old room. It's not like there haven't been times you practically lived here in the past. My mom won't question it."

"You do know that I have my own apartment," Tommy pointed out. One look at Oliver's pleading eyes made him sneak a quick kiss and say, "Okay, but just for a few days. Call it a post-breakup hide-out or something. You talk to your mom after we leave tomorrow."

"And we'll talk more about the no more women thing," Oliver said, cheekily.

"Oh, I've already got a solution for that," Tommy said, grinning.

"Really? In the ten minutes since we started talking about it, you have a solution? You haven't even broken up with Laurel yet." Oliver balked. "It's not Laurel, is it? Because that would be a terrible idea."

"No, not Laurel. Although I'm not sure why we never tried that with her instead of only random women," Tommy wondered aloud. "I'm referring to a certain blonde computer genius whose babbling tendencies you seem to have picked up."

"Felicity?" Oliver asked.

"C'mon, man, don't tell me you never thought about being with her."

"Of course I have. Not! I wouldn't… We work together." Oliver tripped over his words, causing Tommy's grin to widen. "What makes you think she'd even be interested?"

"Don't try to deny that you haven't seen the way she looks at you. I've only been in the basement once with you guys and you barely had your shirt on at all; and don't tell me because it's warm down there. It's not. You want her to look at you."

"She's too good for me," Oliver countered.

Tommy shook his head. "I think she should be the judge of that."

"Besides, even if she is interested in me, which I'm not saying she is, how do you even know she'd be interested in being with both of us? It would be both of us, right?" Oliver nervously asked.

"Yes, it would be both of us; and let's just say that I have a hunch," Tommy said.

Oliver pulled Tommy back to him back for a long kiss. "I hate sending you back to her right now."

"I'm not looking forward to it either. I've never cheated on Laurel before," Tommy admitted.

"You won't be for long," Oliver promised. "Just slip into bed and claim exhaustion."

"That would not be a lie," Tommy agreed. He kissed Oliver one more time before pulling away.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said, dragging a hand over Oliver's ass as he stepped around him.

~~*~~

Tommy's room at the Queen mansion hadn't changed much since he was eight years old. It was virtually a replica of Oliver's room, only not quite so large. Since Oliver was his best friend, and their parents had been good friends, Tommy had spent a lot of time in this room as a child. Probably more than at his own home those first couple of years after his mom died.

He felt safe there.

Then why was Tommy sitting on the love seat feeling more unsure about life than ever before?

He was fairly certain that it had everything to do with the man whose room was only two doors down the hallway.

Tommy felt like he was on an emotional roller coaster. Within the past few months Oliver had returned from the dead, Laurel had agreed to date him, his father had cut him off, he'd found out that Oliver was a killer vigilante, he'd broken up with Laurel, and was now in a fledgling relationship with Oliver.

Breaking up with Laurel had been as hard as he'd thought it would be. His timing was terrible, given how attached she was letting herself get to Taylor before his grandparents came to get him. He knew there'd been no warning signs, aside from the secret he was keeping about Oliver's nighttime activities.

Her tears had nearly done him in, but it as much as he loved her, he'd loved Oliver a lot longer.

Oliver was the love that could never be.

He was that forbidden drunken indulgence in high school and college. When they were drunk or high they could brush their indiscretions off as something that only happened under the influence. It didn't really mean anything.

Except that it did, at least for Tommy, it always meant something. And every time they'd given in, it only made him crave Oliver more.

Until Oliver had died. He'd mourned for a long time after the Gambit went down. When he wasn't at school finishing up his business degree, he'd stayed with the Queens. He'd leaned on Moira and Thea and they'd leaned on him. He liked to think that his presence there helped them through that difficult time as much as it had helped him.

That had been the last time he'd stayed in this room, come to think of it.

He'd still come over to spend time with Thea, trying to be a brother to her, but he hadn't spent the night in years.

All it had taken was one pleading look from Oliver and he'd caved.

He and Oliver had had dinner with the Queen women earlier that night before heading to Verdant, in separate cars. Tommy had joked that if they were living together the least they could do was carpool, but Oliver wasn't sure if he'd be able to leave when Tommy was ready and insisted on going in separately.

It turned out to be a good call. Tommy was fully staffed that night and decided he didn't need to be there all night. When he'd gone down to tell Oliver, he was busy working out and Tommy didn't want to disturb him, so he asked Felicity to let Oliver know he'd gone home.

After showering and changing into pajama pants and a t-shirt, Tommy was now idly flipping through the channels on his TV, not really in the mood to watch anything in particular. He turned the TV off completely at the soft knock on his door.

"Come in," he called out.

"Good, you're here," Oliver said, closing the door before crossing to sit next to Tommy.

"Where else would I be?" Tommy asked, taking the open beer Oliver handed him.

"When Felicity said you were going home, I wasn't sure which home you'd go to," Oliver admitted.

Tommy covered one of Oliver's hands with one of his. "Hey, I said I would stay here for a few days, so until that ends, here is home." He didn't say that home was where Oliver was. It was too soon for sentiments like that.

"I just really wanted to see you tonight," Oliver sighed, tugging Tommy closer with their joined hands.

Tommy obligingly scooted closer. "Is everything okay?"

Oliver shook his head and took a pull from his beer.

"Digg's gone," Oliver finally said.

"What?! Did Deadshot get him?" Tommy demanded.

"Deadshot? What are you talk--" Oliver's eyes widened, realizing how that had sounded. "No, he's not dead. He left. He's not going to help me anymore."

Tommy collapsed back. "Don't do that to me."

"I'm sorry, I didn't think about how that would sound," he apologized, leaning closer so he could do so properly.

Tommy kissed him back desperately. This was what he feared the most right now. He'd just gotten Oliver back. He'd just gotten him the way he'd always wanted him. He couldn't lose him now.

When he pulled back, Oliver left his hand on the back of Tommy's neck, fingers idly playing with the hair at the nape.

"Tell me what happened," Tommy requested, when he could speak again.

"It was because I didn't go to help him stop Deadshot." Oliver sighed. "I knew he'd be upset, but I didn't realize he'd be _this_ angry."

"Do you regret not going?" Tommy asked, knowing that was the same night they had admitted to their attraction.

"Not for one second," Oliver insisted. "I don't regret being here to stop that assassin. Or what happened between us afterwards. I do regret that I wasn't able to be there to help Digg at the same time."

"He'll come around," Tommy said. "I did."

"It's not the same," Oliver said.

"I know," Tommy acknowledged. "But hopefully once he's cooled off he'll remember that this was his mission, too, and he'll come back."

"I hope so. I don't know how long I can do this without him and Felicity," Oliver admitted.

"Felicity didn't quit too, did she?" Tommy asked, nervously.

"She's a little frustrated with me because of Digg leaving, but no, she hasn't left, yet."

"Good," Tommy said, letting the playfulness back into his voice. "We may need her later, after all."

"You weren't serious about her joining us, were you?" Oliver asked, freezing.

"Absolutely," Tommy grinned, kissing the shocked expression off of Oliver's face.

"I don't think she'd go for it," Oliver weakly protested. "She's not like the girls we used to share."

"The ones who only slept with us because of our money? No, she's not," Tommy agreed. "She's so much better."

"But--"

"Stop trying to find excuses," Tommy said, bringing his hands up to frame Oliver's face. "Let me ease her into the idea. I guarantee you, when we're ready to bring someone else into our bed, she'll be the one."

Oliver licked his lips as his eyes darkened with arousal. "Our bed," he croaked.

"Oh, yes," Tommy virtually purred. He glanced behind him. "And look, there's one right over there."

Something sad flashed through Oliver's eyes before his arousal was back. "Tommy." His voice said everything with that one word. He wasn't ready.

"Just to sleep," Tommy promised.

Oliver closed his eyes and sighed. "To sleep. Okay."

Tommy stood and pulled Oliver to his feet. They left their unfinished beers on the table and made their way to the bed, pulling each other close once they were under the covers.

"I'm really glad that you're here," Oliver said.

"So am I," Tommy said, snuggling closer to Oliver's warm body. "So am I."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place during 1x21 (The Undertaking). Some dialogue borrowed from episode.

Tommy descended the steps into Oliver's lair. Not the club's basement, but the Hood's lair. His boyfriend's lair?

He was surprised that Felicity wasn't at the computers when he reached them, and followed his ears to where Oliver was beating up a training dummy. Shirtless, once again. He stood there for a moment to appreciate the way Oliver's muscles rippled and flexed as he repeated the same forms over and over again against the dummy.

Oliver suddenly took a step back and turned to face Tommy, a light sheen of sweat covering his face and torso.

"Some people would consider it rude to stare," he pointed out, trying to keep a straight face.

"Some people deserve to be stared at," Tommy countered, licking his lips.

Oliver moved into Tommy's personal space. "Good answer," he said before dropping a kiss to his lips.

"Where's Felicity?" Tommy asked, hands itching to touch all of the bare flesh before him.

"Probably shopping. She needed a dress to infiltrate an underground casino tonight," Oliver said.

"She's going to do what?" Tommy exclaimed. He shook his head. "We'll come back to that. Come here." He pulled Oliver back into a more passionate kiss. Oliver hummed in pleasure as he granted access to Tommy's insistent tongue. Tommy's hands grasped Oliver's hips before sliding up his back. His fingertips lightly traced every scar they encountered.

Oliver broke the kiss, turning away from Tommy.

"What's wrong?" Tommy asked, panting for breath.

Oliver shuddered as he pulled on a t-shirt. "I'm just not used to being touched like that."

"Intimately? Gently? By a man? Shirtless?" Tommy pressed.

"Yes. All of it," Oliver snapped. "It's not that I don't want you to touch me," Oliver promised, softer, "I just… just give me some time to get used to it."

"Would it make you feel better if I took my shirt off too?" Tommy offered.

"Some other time, yes," Oliver agreed, resting a hand against Tommy's neck. "But we have a mission to prep for, and I don't want to start anything we can't finish."

"That sounds like an excellent point," Tommy agreed. He took a step back, hoping some physical distance would help to slake his lust. "So what was that you said about Felicity infiltrating an underground casino? I thought she didn't go out in the field."

Oliver grimaced. "She usually doesn't, but she insisted. With Digg not speaking to me, it's just the two of us, and I certainly can't go in there as myself."

"Neither could I," Tommy added.

Oliver nodded. "She claims she can count cards; that she knows her way around a casino. It was pretty hard to say no when she was so determined."

"Why this casino? Why now?" Tommy asked.

"We're pretty sure the guy running it arranged for Walter to be kidnapped."

Tommy sucked in a harsh breath. After a beat he asked, "How can I help?"

"Tommy--"

"No, don't tell me it's too dangerous," Tommy said, cutting Oliver off. He settled a hand on Oliver's hip. "I don't need to go with you to the casino. Just, let me help."

Their eyes met in a heated battle of wills before Oliver dipped his head in defeat. "Okay, you can help. I don't know how yet, but you can try."

"He can watch the cameras," Felicity suggested, surprising both men, causing them to hastily step away from each other. "Did I interrupt something?" she asked, looking at the guilty expressions they both wore.

"No, of course not," Oliver said, too quickly.

Felicity relaxed against her desk, tilted her head, pursed her lips and stared at Oliver.

Tommy observed their silent communication and remembered that Felicity had said Oliver couldn't lie to her.

They hadn't really talked much about when and who they would tell about them being together. Tommy nudged Oliver with his shoulder and gave a slight shrug and a tiny nod. Oliver let out the breath he'd been holding and stepped closer, sliding his arm around Tommy's waist before looking back at Felicity.

Felicity's eyes went wide and then the biggest grin he'd ever seen spread across her face. "Really?"

"Yes, really," Oliver confirmed as Tommy slid his arm around him. He was smiling too, Tommy noted. They all were, in fact.

Felicity bounced over to them and gave them both a quick hug. "I'm happy for you," she said before stepping back. "I know I didn't know you guys before, but from how Oliver always talked about you, I wondered if there wasn't more to your bromance than just friendship. Does anyone else know?"

"No, we're still getting used to the idea ourselves," Oliver admitted.

"What about Laurel?" Felicity asked. "I thought you were with her and you wanted to be?" she said to each man in turn. Both winced.

"I broke up with her a few days ago, after Oliver and I realized we wanted to see where this attraction led," Tommy admitted. "But we're going to have to tell her sooner rather than later, I think."

"I know. She came to see me earlier today, caught me on the club floor. She wanted me to talk you into taking her back. I didn't know what to say, so I suggested she talk to you, not me. Sorry, man."

Tommy shrugged. "She came to see me too. Must have come up to my office after talking to you. I told her she deserved to be happy, but it wasn't going to be with me."

"If she's going to keep running between you two to get back with Tommy, you're definitely going to have to tell her the truth so she stops holding out hope," Felicity said.

"We will," Oliver promised. "Did you find a dress?"

"Yes, it's red," Felicity said, gesturing to the garment bag lying on her computer chair. She pulled something out of her wallet. "While normally I'd object to you buying me clothes, it was nice not having to look at the price tag too closely."

"You did object," Oliver pointed out, taking back his credit card.

Felicity waved him off. "So, I have about an hour before I need to go home and start getting ready. I assume I'm showing Tommy how to talk to my babies?"

"How did you know--" Tommy started to ask until Felicity cut him off.

"I know Oliver's not going to let you out in the field." She ignored their huffs of protest. "He barely lets me out in the field, but I'm the best one qualified for this mission, so I'm going. He's going to be outside the casino in case I need backup. I figured that since Oliver still hasn't apologized to Digg that you'd be down here as our eyes."

"Wow," was all Tommy could say. "Yeah, that about sums it up."

"Alright then, pull up a chair. I know Oliver needs to play with his arrows anyway."

"I don't _play_ with the arrows," he grumbled, heading towards his workbench. He did need to rig a couple of them with explosives, just in case.

Tommy was thoroughly enjoying the way that Felicity and Oliver related to each other. She seemed to bring out a side of Oliver that had been missing, or hiding, since his return.

Felicity moved her dress and woke up her babies while Tommy pulled up a chair.

"There isn't that much that you're going to need to know," Felicity said. "I already hacked into the security cameras both in and outside the casino. You'll just need to keep these two windows open," she said, bringing forward the relevant screens on two of the monitors. "I'll make sure to leave these up when I leave tonight."

"What about comms?" Tommy asked.

Felicity went and got them from where they usually sat off-mission and then pulled up the controls for them on the third monitor.

"This works the same way it would on your music player at home to control the mute. Just click here on the one labeled four, that'll be yours. Oliver is number one and I'm number three. They're all set to the same frequency. If for some reason you need to talk to just one of us, you click here to cut the sound to the comm you don't want to hear you."

"Will I need to follow your tracking devices?" Tommy asked.

"You shouldn't need to, but I can pull that up on this monitor too if it would make you feel better," Felicity offered. "Oliver will be a green dot and I'll be red."

"Like your dress," Tommy guessed.

"Yes, but that's not why the dress is red. I just look great in that color," Felicity said, cheekily.

"I bet you do," Tommy leered.

"Tommy," Felicity admonished him, slapping at his arm. "You can't say things like that. You're with Oliver."

"Us being together does not mean that I can't still recognize a beautiful woman. It just means I can't act on it. At least not without Ollie being present," Tommy said.

"You better not," Oliver called out from across the room, looking at them over his shoulder.

Tommy blew him an air kiss, causing Oliver to roll his eyes and return to his work.

"You guys are adorable," Felicity giggled a bit hysterically, her cheeks several shades pinker than they had been a moment before.

She grabbed one of the comms and dropped it in her purse before preparing to leave.

"Oliver, you'll pick me up in two hours?" she confirmed.

"You can still back out, you know," he said, coming over to where she stood with Tommy.

She laughed. "Not a chance. I'll see you soon."

"I really like her," Tommy said once she was gone, beaming up at Oliver.

"You would," Oliver acknowledged.

"Are you done playing with your arrows?" Tommy asked. "I hear we have almost two hours to kill."

Oliver groaned. "You are going to be terrible for my work ethic, you know that?"

"You have a work ethic?" Tommy teased, looping his arms around Oliver's neck. He relaxed when Oliver's hands landed on his waist.

"For this work, yeah, I do, but I suppose I can work with what I've got."

"Good."

Tommy spent the next hour with his back pressed against a pillar and Oliver pressed against him. He thought it was a very good use of their time.

~~*~~

"Okay, guys, I see you approaching the casino," Tommy said, settling into Felicity's chair. It really was very comfortable. "And may I say, you look fantastic, Felicity. I'm just sorry Oliver's making you walk in those heels."

"Tommy," Oliver growled in warning.

At the same time, Felicity said, "Thanks, Tommy."

"You ready?" Oliver asked as the neared the door.

"I think so," Felicity said, fiddling with her clutch. "Just to be clear, the plan is for me to get caught counting cards in an underground casino filled with hardened criminals."

"So you can get a friendly warning from Alonzo and plant a bug on his office computer," Oliver added.

"Right. Which will hopefully lead us to Walter. That is assuming I get the friendly warning and not a bullet," Felicity said, nervously.

"Hey, you don't have to do this," Oliver reminded her, again.

"Yes, I do."

"Ok. If anything happens, I'm right outside," Oliver assured her.

"Ok." Felicity took a deep breath and waited a minute for Oliver to get up to his perch on the fire escape across the alley.

"Remind me why Oliver's the one getting the password?" Tommy requested.

"Because you don't have audio," Oliver answered. "Unless you've learned how to read lips in the past five years, I need to use the parabolic microphone to hear the password. Now quiet, someone's coming."

A car pulled up to the door and a man stepped out.

"Password," the bodyguard requested, staring at the man.

"Snapdragon."

"Password is snapdragon," Oliver repeated for Felicity.

Felicity nodded slightly and approached the door.

"Password," the bodyguard dutifully requested.

"Snapdragon," Felicity confidently answered and entered the casino.

"So far, so good," Tommy commented.

"What do you see?" Oliver asked.

"Six armed guards, two pit bosses, and a floor man. No slot machines. How do you call yourself a casino without any Lucky 7s?"

"Stay focused, please. I'll be with you the entire time," Oliver promised.

"Thanks. It feels really good having you inside me." Tommy barked out a laugh. "And by 'you,' I mean your voice. And by 'me,' I mean my ear. I'm gonna stop talking right now," Felicity babbled.

"That would be my preference," Oliver said, obviously clenching his teeth.

"I wouldn't mind hearing a little bit more," Tommy chuckled.

"Not now, Tommy," Oliver admonished him.

Ignoring them, Felicity took a seat at a table and pulled out a stack of money. "One stack of High Society, please."

Tommy split his time between watching the various camera angles and looking around the lair. No one had told him that his was the boring part of the job.

"How's it look, Tommy?" Oliver asked, startling him.

Tommy looked back to the monitors. "Everything looks normal. Felicity wasn't lying. She has not lost a single hand. That's bound to gain attention soon."

"Blackjack!" the dealer called out.

"Yes!" Felicity beamed, clapping her hands adorably.

"Oh, and apparently soon is now. Here we go," Tommy informed Oliver.

"Miss, can you come with me?" One of guards was standing next to her.

"Is something wrong?" she nonchalantly asked.

"Get. Up."

"Oh, since you ask so nicely." Felicity stood and followed the guard off the floor. "Oh, there's the bathroom. I should have known the manager's office would be down the hall and to the right of the bathroom."

Tommy assumed that Felicity was babbling out of nervousness, as she would have known that he could have given Oliver those directions himself from watching her on the cameras.

The guard opened a door and said, "Mr. Alonzo."

"Have a seat," Alonzo insisted. "What's your name?"

"Megan," Felicity said, giving the alias they'd agreed on as she removed the bug from her clutch.

"Do you know where the term '86' comes from, Megan?" Alonzo asked.

"As it happens, I do. It's from prohibition. There was a-- an illegal casino, not like this one, located at 86 Bedford Street in New York, and you know, I'm just gonna stop talking." Felicity had purposely been waving her hands around while talking and was able to place the bug on Alonzo's computer. It was awfully nice of him to keep it on his desktop so she'd be able to bug it so easily.

"Now it means to ban someone, someone who's cheating. You're 86'd. Leave your chips and go."

"Thank you. Thank you," Felicity said, standing.

"Oh, yeah, Megan, one more thing." Alonzo came around the desk to stand before her. "You see, the thing about card counters is, uh, sometimes they work with a partner." He removed her comm and smashed it under his shoe.

"Felicity! Oliver!" Tommy hollered.

"I know," Oliver said, already stripping off his jacket and sweater and pulling on his hood. "I'm going in after her."

"Hurry," Tommy said. From the camera in Alonzo's office, he could see that Felicity was alright, but he didn't know how long she would stay that way.

He watched on the cameras as Oliver burst into the casino, arrows and bullets flying everywhere. It was chaos. Tommy could tell that most of the arrows weren't kill shots, but Oliver was in a hurry to get to Felicity, so some could have been. Tommy pushed that thought out of his mind and willed Oliver to get to Felicity faster. He could see Alonzo had pulled Felicity behind his desk and was holding a gun to her head in preparation for her partner's arrival.

Oliver kicked down the door and fired an arrow hitting the bullseye on the dartboard behind Alonzo.

"I heard you never miss," Alonzo gloated.

"I don't." A second later the arrow exploded, causing Alonzo to release his grip on Felicity as they both fell.

Oliver pulled Alonzo up and pinned him against the wall. "Where's Walter Steele?" he demanded, the voice modulator making him sound extremely intimidating.

"What? What are you talking about?" Alonzo stuttered.

"Six months ago you had him kidnapped!" Oliver fumed.

"It was just a job. I was given a name. I didn't ask any questions," Alonzo admitted, cowering against the wall.

"Last chance. Where is he?"

"Below ground."

"You're lying!"

"I'm not. I delivered him and they killed him. I heard the gunshot. He's dead," Alonzo insisted.

Oliver punched Alonzo, knocking him out and turned to face Felicity as he pulled back the hood.

Oliver took her by the elbow and led Felicity out of the casino. "Let's go."

"We failed," she said, sniffling, as she reached back to raise Oliver's hood.

"We did everything we could," Oliver hollowly insisted.

"Let me talk to her," Tommy insisted.

"Hang on," Oliver said to Tommy as they approached the car. Once they were settled inside, he pulled out his comm and handed it to Felicity. "Tommy wants to talk to you." He started the car and headed towards Felicity's apartment.

"Hey Tommy," Felicity said, quietly.  
"Thank God you're alright," he said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm alright," Felicity corrected him.

"You're unharmed," Tommy amended. "Are you coming back here?"

Felicity glanced over to Oliver, who looked like he was barely holding it together. "No, Oliver's going to take me straight home. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay. Try to get some sleep," Tommy said. "Can you give me back to Oliver?"

"Sure. Night, Tommy," Felicity said.

"Good night."

Felicity removed the comm and handed it back to Oliver. "Hey," Oliver said quietly, to confirm that it was him again.

"Hey," Tommy said back, just as quietly. "Are you coming back here? I can wait."

"Yeah, I need to change before I go talk to my Mom," Oliver choked out.

"I'll be here," Tommy promised.

"Thank you," Oliver said, barely above a whisper.

Tommy muted his comm, but kept it in. He could tell that no one was in a talking mood. Not after that revelation.

He heard Oliver drop Felicity off at her townhouse and then continue on his way back to the Foundry. He wished there was something he could do besides sit and watch the clock. He felt useless, but he needed to be there for Oliver when he got back.

After what felt like hours, but was probably only twenty minutes, Oliver finally appeared on the stairs.

Tommy was waiting for him over by the computers, unsure of what to do.

He didn't need to do anything. Oliver set his bow on a table and dropped his duffle bag on the ground before crossing to pull Tommy into a tight hug. Tommy instantly wrapped his arms around the taller man, running his hands soothingly over his back.

Oliver pulled back just enough so he could reach Tommy's lips.

The kiss was slow and sweet. Bittersweet. Full of longing and desperation and sadness. As it ended, Oliver rested his forehead against Tommy's, simply breathing each other in.

"I can't believe he's been dead all this time," Oliver said, finally, pulling away.

"You're sure?" Tommy asked, even though he knew he was. "That guy, Alonzo, didn't actually see them kill Walter. He only heard gunshots."

"Then where's he been all this time?" Oliver asked. "It's been six months! Six months of my mother barely leaving her bedroom, let alone the house."

"I don't know, man."

"I know. Sorry, I know," Oliver apologized. "I'm just not looking forward to telling Mom and Thea."

"What are you going to tell them?" Tommy asked.

Oliver blew out a breath and started changing back into his street clothes. "I'll say that one of Digg's contacts was informed that Walter was dead."

"You think they'll buy it?" Tommy studiously ignored the fact that Oliver was changing in front of him. Now was not the time for lewd comments and teasing. No matter how much he appreciated the view.

"I hope so," Oliver said, wiping away the grease paint.

"I'm going to go back to my apartment tonight," Tommy said. "You should be with your family."

Oliver looked like he wanted to protest, but didn't, and nodded resolutely. He folded his Hood outfit and placed it, his bow, and quiver back in the duffle bag.

"Let's go," Oliver said, settling the bag over one shoulder as they headed up the stairs.

At their cars, Tommy caught Oliver's hand and squeezed it before turning to go. "I'll come over tomorrow."

"Thank you," Oliver said, squeezing his hand back.

~~*~~

Tommy was just about to start getting ready for bed an hour later when his phone rang. He smiled when he saw it was Oliver, not expecting to hear from him again that night.

"You miss me already?" Tommy asked by way of greeting.

"Meet me back at the foundry," Oliver said, his voice rough with emotion.

All teasing drained from Tommy, replaced by fear. "What's wrong? Did Moira do something..."

"Oh, she did something alright," Oliver snarled. "I'll explain later. Just please, can you come back?"

"On my way. I'll see you soon," Tommy promised, slipping on his jacket and grabbing his keys. He called Felicity as soon as he was on the road with the car's Bluetooth system.

"Hello?" Tommy could hear the tears in her voice.

"It's Tommy. I didn't wake you, did I?"

"No. I haven't been able to even think about sleep," she said.

"I think something happened after we left Oliver," Tommy said, jumping straight to the reason for the call.

"Is he okay?" Felicity immediately asked.

"Physically, I think so. Emotionally, not at all," Tommy said. "Look, he just called and asked me to come back to the Foundry. You should probably be there too. Can you meet us there in, say, half an hour?"

"Of course," Felicity said. "I can be there in fifteen."

"No, give us some time. I want to see what has him so wound up first, before you come in."

"Alright," Felicity promised. "I'll see you in half an hour or so."

"Thanks, Felicity." Tommy hung up as he pulled into Verdant's parking lot. He could see Oliver's Ducati was already parked back there.

The lights were off as he descended the stairs into the lair. As he went to flip them on, Oliver called out, "Don't."

Tommy moved into the room and he could barely make out Oliver sitting on the ground, leaning against a concrete pillar. The same one he'd been pressed against only a few hours ago for much more pleasurable reasons.

Ignoring the pool of water nearby, Tommy settled himself next to Oliver on the ground, pressing against his side.

"What happened? Why are you suited up again?" he asked.

"They're in on it together," Oliver said, his voice deceptively calm.

"Who's in on what together?" Tommy asked, having no idea what Oliver was talking about.

"My mom and your dad," Oliver said, finally looking at him. "My mother allowed your father to kidnap Walter in exchange for her help with his Undertaking. They are working together."

"Working together," Tommy repeated. "To do what?"

"I don't know," Oliver admitted. "We've been hearing rumors about an Undertaking being planned but haven't been able to figure out what it was. We still don't know."

"Just that our parents are involved in it somehow?" Part of him wanted to rant and rave that his father would never stoop so low as to have someone, especially someone he knew and was friendly with, kidnapped, but Tommy ignored it. He was well-aware that his father would do just about anything if it meant getting something he wanted.

"Yes," Oliver agreed. He turned slightly so he could rest his head against Tommy's shoulder.

That was how Felicity found them when she turned on the lights.

"I've been sitting in the dark all night, too. All these months I kept thinking if I could find a clue, I could get a lead on him. Guess it wouldn't have mattered. I can't imagine what your family's going through."

"Walter's alive," Oliver said.

"What? But Alonzo said--"

Oliver pushed to his feet so Tommy stood, too.

"I need you to pull up Malcolm Merlyn's phone records. He made a call from his office to wherever Walter is being kept at 10:30 p.m."

"Malcolm Merlyn? Tommy's father?" Felicity looked between the two men. "Why would he kidnap Walter?"

"Felicity," Oliver said, imploringly.

She hurried to the computers and pulled up the phone company records. "L.U.D. showed he made a call to a tenement complex located in Bludhaven."

"Can you pull up a satellite view?" Oliver asked.

"Uh, yeah." She quickly did. "That's a lot of security for low-income housing. There's two guards stationed at all access points."

"There's just one on the roof," Tommy noted.

"Exactly. There's no other buildings in that area. If you want to get onto the roof, you're going to have to jump off of something."

"I've got something," Oliver growled.

"Be careful," Tommy said as Oliver geared up and headed out.

"Bring him home," Felicity added. She handed Tommy a comm and put in her own, automatically muting them.

She hacked into the building's security system and pulled up the camera feeds on her monitors. She let out a small gasp and pointed at one frame.

"There," she said, showing Tommy. "He's there. He's alive."

"Oliver will save him," Tommy promised, squeezing her shoulder like he'd seen Oliver do. Felicity reached up to squeeze back before he pulled away.

"This is it," she confided in him. "This was the whole reason I signed on with Oliver."

"Does that mean you're done helping him now?" Tommy nervously asked. He hoped not. Oliver needed Felicity, and he had a feeling that she needed him too.

"And leave all this?" Felicity teased, waving a hand around the dank basement. She shook her head. "Walter may have been why I signed on, but I couldn't stop doing this now. There's too much at stake. There so much more good we can do."

"I'm happy to hear you say that," Tommy said.

"Are you?" Felicity questioned. "It wasn't long ago that you could barely look at Oliver because of all of this."

"I'm coming around," Tommy admitted. "Nights like tonight are helping me to come around."

Felicity smiled. "That's good. He'll never admit it, but Oliver needs your support with this."

"I'm here for him," Tommy promised.

"Even if your dad really is involved in all of this?" Felicity pressed.

"If you're asking who I'd pick - Oliver or my dad - Oliver will always win," Tommy said with such conviction that Felicity dropped the subject.

They watched the monitors in silence until finally Felicity saw something. "I think that's him. Where did he get a parachute? And a plane?"

Tommy laughed. "Man knows how to make an entrance."

They watched, fascinated, as Oliver took out thug after thug, leaving a trail of injured bodies as he progressed down a long hallway.

"Damn, that's hot," Tommy muttered, knowing he shouldn't find such a display of violence sexy, but knowing it was Oliver, it was.

Felicity licked her lips and nodded her agreement. Felicity unmuted her comm and directed Oliver to Walter's cell before muting it again.

Finally, Oliver reached a door that was bolted shut. He released the bolts and entered Walter's cell.

"Mr. Steele," he said, having activated his voice modulator. "Walter."

Walter turned over on the cot. "What? What's happening?"

"You're going home," Oliver said. 

"What are you doing?" Tommy asked as Felicity wiped her eyes and picked up the "office" cell.

"Police? I'd like to report a disturbance at a tenement in Bludhaven," Felicity said, winking at Tommy.

Felicity unmuted their comms. "Police are on their way. You should get out of there."

"The police will be here in a few minutes," Oliver informed Walter. "You'll be with your family soon."

With that, he turned and quickly made his way out of the building.

"Uh, Tommy?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah, Buddy."

"Can you come pick me up?"

Tommy laughed. "I'm on my way. I'm leaving my comm here, so call my cell if you need anything else before I get there."

"Will do. I'll see you soon."

Tommy handed his comm to Felicity and kissed her cheek. "Go home and get some sleep."

"I will. You too," she said, flushing slightly. "I'll see you both tomorrow."

Tommy sped towards Bludhaven and the address that Oliver had texted him, a couple of blocks from where Walter had been held. The cops were all over that tenement when Tommy drove past it.

Oliver slipped into the car moments after Tommy put it in park.

"You did it," Tommy said, grinning.

"We did," Oliver agreed. "I can hardly believe it all."

"Where to now? The hospital?"

"Home," Oliver said, shaking his head. "I'm sure they're not going to allow him any visitors tonight. He'll need to be checked out and probably set up with an IV. He'll need fluids."

As Tommy moved to shift into gear, Oliver placed his hand over his. "You'll stay with me?" Oliver asked, his eyes pleading. "I really want to hold you tonight."

"I'd like that, too," Tommy agreed.

~~*~~

Tommy was startled awake by the sound of someone banging on a door.

"Ollie! Ollie, wake up," Thea called, banging on the door again. "Your door's locked. Let me in."

Tommy felt his pillow, which apparently was Oliver's chest, rise and fall as he took a deep breath. With a groan, he rolled over onto his back as Oliver slipped the arm that had been around him away.

Tommy blinked his eyes open and found Oliver looking at him.

"I better go see what she wants," Oliver said. He dropped a kiss to his lips before rolling out of bed.

As soon as the door was opened, Thea came flying into the room. "Ollie, you're never going to believe it. They found Walter. He's alive!" she excitedly told him.

Oliver did a passable job of faking surprise. "Walter's alive? But Mr. Diggle's friend said--"

"A bunch of big fat lies," Thea cut him off. "Hurry up and get dressed. Mom said they're finally letting him have visitors soon."

It was then that Thea turned and saw Tommy lying in Oliver's bed.

"Tommy, I didn't know you were here," she looked between the two men, noting the guilty look on her brother's face. "Why aren't you in your room?"

Oliver closed the door before returning to sit on the bed; on Tommy's side of the bed. He took Tommy's hand in his and with just a trace of nervousness on his face he told his sister, "Tommy and I are together now."

"As in, _together_ together?" Thea asked, her tone giving nothing away about how she felt about this development.

"Together," Tommy agreed, smiling happily.

"Speedy?" Oliver nervously asked when she continued to just stare at them.

Several emotions seemed to chase each other across her face, one of them being jealousy, before she settled on a smile.

"When did this happen?" she asked, moving to sit at the foot of the bed.

"About a week ago," Oliver told her, settling more comfortably on the bed.

"Are you okay with this, Thea?" Tommy asked, noticing that she was still holding herself tensely. "You can tell us the truth."

"Yeah, it's great," she said through a strained voice.

"Is this about the crush you have on me?" Tommy asked.

"You have a crush on him?" Oliver demanded, his own jealousy flaring to life.

"Can you blame me?" Thea retorted. "Tommy's such a great, caring guy. Of course I have a crush on him."

"You knew about this?" Oliver asked Tommy.

"It was kind of hard to ignore after she threw herself at me one night," Tommy said.

"You said you'd never speak of that again," Thea hissed, burying her face in her hands.

"When was this? Why didn't you tell me?" Oliver demanded.

"At the fundraiser for CNRI," Tommy said. "Thea and I talked and I made it clear that nothing was going to happen between us. There was no reason to tell you. She was embarrassed enough already."

"She's still embarrassed," Thea said. "Can we drop it already?"

"Drop what?" Tommy asked, smiling conspiratorially.

Looking at them sitting so comfortably together, Thea mused aloud, "You know, I always thought there was more to your friendship than just best friends. I mean, I was twelve when you went away, Ollie, but even then, I knew that you were closer than most best friends."

A short rap on the door was followed by Moira's voice. "Oliver? Thea? Are you nearly ready?"

Thea bounced up. "Right. Walter. You're coming, right Ollie?"

"One minute, Mom," Oliver called out. "We'll be right down."

"Hurry up," Moira said.

"Are we okay, Thea?" Oliver asked, moving around the bed.

"We'll be fine. I'm happy you found someone to open up to," Thea confided. "You are talking to him, right?"

Oliver looked at Tommy, fondly. "Yes, I'm talking to him."

"I just have one request, then."

"Anything," Oliver promised, without hesitation.

"Can I be there when you tell Mom?" Thea grinned cheekily and bounced out of the room.

"She took that better than I expected," Tommy said.

"Me too," Oliver admitted. "And that's without me knowing about her crush on you."

"You've got to let that go," Tommy said, sliding out of bed and beginning to look for his clothes.

"This is the first time my sister and I have had the hots for the same person, it's weird," Oliver complained, pulling on his jeans.

Tommy laughed, sliding into his shirt and beginning to fasten the buttons. "Being the object of said hots, I can attest to such weirdness. But she never had a shot. Aside from being way too young for me, there was only one Queen sibling I ever had feelings for."

Oliver had just pulled a fresh navy blue sweater over his head and blinked a couple of times at Tommy's statement. Tommy had just pulled up his pants and was tucking the shirt into them when Oliver lifted his face for a mind blitzing kiss.

"The feelings are mutual," Oliver breathed against Tommy's lips before capturing them again.

"As much as I would love to crawl back into bed and continue doing this all morning, you have somewhere you need to be. Preferably before Thea or your mom walks back in," Tommy reluctantly said, stepping back.

"You're not coming?" Oliver asked, pouting slightly.

Tommy shook his head. "I think this is a family thing. You go be a family. I need some time to think about mine."

Oliver sobered. "We didn't really get a chance to talk about what the Undertaking means for us."

"We will," Tommy promised. "I just need a little time to process this latest not-so-shocking development."

"If you're sure," Oliver said, grabbing a jacket.

"I'm sure," Tommy confirmed, leaning up to kiss Oliver lightly. "You go ahead. I'll wait until you've gone before heading out. I'm not in the mood to see your mom this morning. Not with Thea standing next to her."

"Good idea. I'll see you at the club later," Oliver promised.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place during 1x22 (Darkness on the Edge of Town). Some dialogue borrowed from this episode as well as episode 1x19.

Tommy was reclining on the couch in his office, staring into his glass of Scotch as if it held the answers to life's mysteries, when Oliver found him.

"Hey," Oliver said, settling down next to Tommy, a hand falling to his thigh.

Tommy looked up, a small smile pulling his lips up. "Hey. How's Walter?"

"He looks good. Better than when I found him," Oliver said. "Felicity showed up with flowers."

"That was nice of her. That was why she started working with you, after all; to find Walter," Tommy said, intertwining his fingers with Oliver's.

"Walter seemed happy to see her," Oliver mused, glancing down, his thumb stroking the back of Tommy's hand. "How are you doing?"

"I'm great, can't you tell?" Tommy snarked, finishing off his drink and setting the glass on the floor.

"Tommy—"

Tommy stood and began to pace. "We need to stop him," he growled. "Whatever this Undertaking is, we can't let him get away with it."

"We won't," Oliver promised, standing. "But are you sure you can handle going after your father?"

"My father is a monster," Tommy said. "I came to terms with that long before he cut me off. How can any man not be considered a monster who leaves his eight year old son alone after he just lost his mother? For years. This just killed any lingering respect that I had left for him."

"Still, this isn't going to be easy," Oliver said. "I'm struggling myself with believing that my mother is involved in this."

"At least she was being coerced," Tommy pointed out. "By my father."

Tommy let Oliver pull him into a loose embrace.

"I just wish we knew what the Undertaking was." Oliver sighed.

"I want to help," Tommy insisted. "More than just sitting in on comms." He paused and licked his lips. "I have an idea, but you're not going to like it."

"What?" Oliver asked, nervously drawing shapes on the small of Tommy's back.

"I'm going to go undercover at Merlyn Global," Tommy stated.

"No," Oliver snapped reflexively, his fingers curling into Tommy's shirt, digging into his back. "That is out of the question."

Tommy's hands came up to frame Oliver's face. "Ollie, I'm doing this."

"It's too dangerous," Oliver insisted.

"More dangerous than going out with a bow and arrow to chase down bad guys?" Tommy asked.

"Yes." Tommy quirked an eyebrow and Oliver sighed. "No."

Tommy pressed a short kiss to Oliver's lips.

"I'll be careful," Tommy promised.

"What if he figures it out? For all his sins, your father is not a stupid man," Oliver said.

"I'll tell him I was trying to save the city," Tommy said with a shrug. "He may have a strange way of showing it, but nothing is more important to that man than family. He won't hurt me. Not physically, at least."

"Are you sure about that?" Oliver asked.

"I have to be," Tommy said.

Oliver nodded, decisively. "Have you worked out your cover?"

"I'll play the prodigal son. Make him think that I've learned the lesson he set out to teach me by cutting me off." Tommy huffed out a laugh. "It'll be a bit like an alternate reality. I almost did this for real."

"How so?" Oliver asked.

"Remember the night you stopped the Count? When you thought I was selling Vertigo?"

"I never really thought--"

Tommy cut him off. "Not the point."

"Yes, I remember," Oliver said.

"Did you know that I was preparing to quit?"

Oliver's jaw dropped and his brows furrowed as he shook his head.

"I was so hurt by your lack of trust; so angry." Tommy shook his head to rid himself of those feelings that were rising again. "When Felicity burst into my office that night I was in the process of putting together a list of all the vendors we used and bringing all the accounts up to date. If you hadn't shown up when you did and been open with me, I was prepared to leave and go crawling back to my dad for a job."

Oliver pulled Tommy closer and kissed him, letting him feel his desperation at the thought of them not happening bleed into the kiss.

"Remind me to thank Felicity for barging in here that night," Oliver said against Tommy's lips.

Tommy closed what little distance there was between them, pressing his lips and body fully against Oliver, causing the taller man to rock back on his heels. His hands slid from Oliver's face, down his neck and under his arms until they could run down his back. When his hands slid under the material Oliver jerked against him.

"Can I?" Tommy panted when Oliver broke the kiss. "May I?" He licked his lips and flattened his palms against Oliver's skin. "I want to see you, touch you."

He met Oliver's eyes and could see the panic in them, the fear of rejection. Tommy could only hope that Oliver was reading only desire in his eyes. "Have I reacted badly any other time I've seen you with your shirt off?" Oliver shook his head. "I want to get to know your body again. Please."

With a jerky nod, Oliver reached behind his head to pull his Henley and t-shirt off, but Tommy stopped him.

"No, let me," Tommy insisted.

Oliver dropped the material and stood there tensely, nervously.

Tommy grabbed the hems of Oliver's shirts near his hips and began to drag them up, making sure his knuckles brushed against Oliver's sides as he did. He could feel Oliver vibrating slightly while he tried to stay still as Tommy undressed him, only dutifully raising his arms to finish removing the tops.

Tommy's hands immediately dropped the clothing and began to trace the new topography of Oliver's flesh. There was a time he knew this body almost as well as he knew his own. The once smooth flesh was now littered with ink and scars. Not that they detracted from Oliver's beauty. In fact, they only added to it.

"You're staring again," Oliver said.

Tommy glanced up. "I'm learning," he countered. "So many scars," he murmured in wonder. He leaned forward and laid a kiss to the center of the mass of scars near Oliver's shoulder, causing Oliver to let out a small gasp. When he didn't pull away, Tommy kissed the next scar, and the next.

Every bit of raised flesh was paid equal attention, including Oliver's nipples, which perhaps received a little extra attention.

Oliver was breathing rather heavily as Tommy moved around to Oliver's back. He traced the dragon tattoo with his tongue before finding and kissing all of the scars on his back.

As he knelt to kiss the swath of burns on Oliver's lower back, his hands slid around Oliver's hips and over the front of his pants. As expected, Oliver was as hard as he was.

"Tommy," Oliver whimpered, his hips thrusting into Tommy's hands. He turned around to find Tommy on his knees in front of him, his own knees nearly giving out at the sight.

Tommy's hands immediately came up and began to open Oliver's jeans. He paused when Oliver placed a hand over his, causing him to look up.

"You don't have to," Oliver said, even though Tommy could tell it pained him to do so.

"No have about it. I get to do this," Tommy said, popping up to his feet. "Although you might be more comfortable over here," he said, leading Oliver to the couch.

Oliver pulled him into a passion fueled kiss, his hands moving to the buttons of Tommy's shirt. Tommy helped him to pull it off.

Oliver apparently believed that turnabout was fair play, because when he broke the kiss, Oliver began to kiss his way over his entire chest, his hands roaming over his back.

"When did you get so hairy?" Oliver asked, teasingly as he moved around to explore Tommy's back.

Tommy laughed. "I don't know. Sometime between college and you coming back from the dead."

Oliver pressed his body against Tommy's back, his hands mimicking Tommy's as he ran them around his hips and down to cup his hard length through his pants, his own hardness pressing against Tommy's ass.

"Oh, God, Oliver," Tommy panted, pressing back against Oliver.

Spinning around, Tommy quickly finished opening Oliver's pants and shoved them, and his boxers, down, his hand wrapping around Oliver's cock.

"Shit, Tommy," Oliver gasped, reaching out to grab onto him.

"Sit," Tommy suggested. "Couch is right behind you."

Oliver glanced over his shoulder and then virtually fell backwards.

Tommy began to lower himself to his knees, but Oliver reached out to stop him. "No."

"I told you, I want to do this," Tommy said, reaching out to stroke Oliver's cock.

"Not, that kind of no," Oliver said, grasping Tommy's arm and pulling him up until he was standing in front of him. Oliver reached out to remove Tommy's pants and boxers. Once they had been pushed out of the way, Oliver encircled Tommy's cock with his hand. "I want to touch you, too."

"Can't object to that," Tommy panted.

Shifting around a little, Tommy got on his knees on the couch so that Oliver could still reach his dick while Tommy would be able to suck Oliver off.

He licked a stripe up the underside of Oliver's cock and looked up at him. "This work for you?"

Oliver slid his hand over Tommy's ass and around to reach his cock, spreading the pre-come he found as lubricant. "Yeah, this'll work," Oliver said, dropping his head back, his eyes hooded and watching Tommy.

"Fuck, yes," Tommy sighed as he took the head of Oliver's cock in his mouth.

They hadn't done this often in the past, but having Oliver like this, hard and hot for him, this was right. Oliver in his hand and in his mouth, panting and pliant beneath him; this was home.

Sex with women was good, but it was never like this. No one, not even Laurel, had ever gotten Tommy as turned on as this man. And that was before he'd molded his body into the piece of art that it was now.

The rhythm came back to him quickly. He took as much of Oliver into his mouth as he could, using suction as he pulled up, then going back down again. His hand stayed busy where his mouth couldn't reach, occasionally dipping down to squeeze his balls.

Oliver was busy too. His hand stroked Tommy expertly, knowing just the right amount of pressure to use.

It didn't take long for Oliver's breathing to increase and his strokes to become less smooth.

"Tommy, I'm close," he warned, squeezing his balls to emphasize his point.

"Don't hold back on my account," Tommy said, pulling off just enough to speak before redoubling his efforts.

"Jesus," Oliver groaned, hand coming up to Tommy's shoulder as he thrust into Tommy's mouth.

True to his word, it only took a couple more strokes for Oliver to jerk beneath Tommy, his release flooding his mouth.

Tommy swallowed what he could. As Oliver stared at the ceiling, panting for breath, Tommy sat back and grabbed a tissue from the end table to clean up what he'd missed.

Oliver dopily grinned up at him. "You are still very good at that. C'mere."

Tommy slid closer to Oliver, who proceeded to kiss him senseless. Tommy rocked against Oliver, pressing his still-hard cock into him. Oliver reached out and began to stroke him again. Without warning, Oliver broke the kiss and took Tommy fully into his mouth.

"Sweet fucking Jesus," Tommy shouted. When the fuck did Oliver learn how to deepthroat? He decided he really didn't want to know.

"If you keep that up I'm going to come," Tommy warned him a scant minute later. Oliver simply looked up at him, as if to say that that was the point.

Tommy's hands ran over Oliver's back and head as he tried to keep his orgasm at bay. Nothing seemed to be working and sooner than he would have liked he found himself calling out Oliver's name as sweet release was pulled from him.

Oliver sat back, looking smug, while Tommy did his impression of a puddle of goo.

"You are even better at that than I remembered," Tommy finally said, motioning for Oliver to come closer. He did, pulling Tommy to lie down with him.

"Do I even want to know where you learned to do that?" Tommy asked.

Oliver squirmed under him. "Let's just say that there were times on the island that having a gag reflex was inconvenient, so I learned how to not have one. And no, I'm not going to elaborate."

Tommy nodded, sprawled over Oliver's chest, fingers tracing his Bratva tattoo, when Oliver asked, "Don't they bother you?"

"Only as a reminder of what you've been through," Tommy said. "They don't hurt, do they?"

"No," Oliver said, idly running his fingers over Tommy's smooth back. "Not anymore."

"If they really bother you, you could probably have them removed," Tommy suggested. "I know Dr. Littlefield is currently unavailable, but I'm sure there are other great plastic surgeons that could at least minimize the scars. Only if you want to," he was quick to add. "I kind of like them. They give you character."

"I don't want to remove them," Oliver said. "They're reminders of why I do what I do."

Tommy leaned up to kiss him, softly.

"As much as I would prefer to spend the evening lying naked here with you, I should really go see my dad."

Oliver frowned. "Tonight?"

"The sooner I get in there the better, right? We don't know what his timetable is for this Undertaking. For all we know, we're already too late for this to work."

"So don't do it," Oliver said, sitting up as Tommy stood and began to dress. Tommy just glared at him. "I know; it's a good plan. You can't fault me for wanting to keep you safe, though."

"I'm not some damsel in distress, Oliver," Tommy said, sitting back down. "You can't keep me locked away in a tower; or basement, as the case may be."

"I don't think of you as some damsel," Oliver insisted. "Just, promise me you'll watch your back while you're there."

"I promise," Tommy said. "Besides, don't you have someone you need to talk to, too?"

Oliver looked away. "Yeah, I probably should."

"Probably?" Tommy arched an eyebrow. "You're going to need him once we figure out what the Undertaking is."

"I know. I'll go talk to Digg tonight. He deserves an apology." 

"And you deserve your friend back," Tommy added. 

"What I don't deserve is you," Oliver said, pulling Tommy against his body.

Tommy allowed Oliver to distract him for a while longer.

~~*~~

An hour later, Tommy was standing in his father's office.

Malcolm had stood when he'd entered without an appointment, but remained behind his desk.

Before he could change his mind, Tommy said, "I'd prefer we skip the I-told-you-sos, but the nightclub, wasn't really working out. I guess I need something more boring, stable. Nine to five, go to the gym, go home, that sort of thing." He took a steadying breath. "I guess what I'm saying is, I want a job."

Without saying a word, Malcolm crossed the room and pulled his son into a tight hug, a smug smile pulling his lips.

Tommy hugged him back to keep up the charade, a satisfied smile lighting his face. He was in.

~~*~~

"I've been watching your mother for days now, Oliver, and nothing. She goes to work, she comes home. Occasionally she goes out for dinner. She seems to particularly like the salmon tartar at Table Salt," Digg reported.

"I'm linked into her home and office phone," Felicity added. "Nothing out of the ordinary. No mention of Walter's abduction or the Undertaking. Just a few innocuous calls to Malcolm Merlyn."

"Why wouldn't she call him? They're old friends," Oliver's voice was laced with sarcasm and pain. Tommy couldn't resist resting a supportive hand on his shoulder, trying to ease some of Oliver's tension so he wouldn't snap the bow he was holding. "We're all old friends."

"Are you ok?" Felicity asked.

"My mom and my boyfriend's dad are involved in a conspiracy that may have dire consequences for the city. And I'm pretty sure they murdered my father. I'm not planning on using the word 'ok' again any time soon."

"Listen, all we know for sure is that Malcolm and your mother are planning something for the Glades," Digg said.

"And that Walter and I were getting too close to it, that's why they had him kidnapped," Felicity concluded.

"We have to find out what this Undertaking is," Digg pointed out.

"I've got to ask her," Oliver said, standing.

Felicity rushed to follow him, "Well, no. The last time the Vigilante paid your mom a visit, you got shot, and I got to play doctor with you. Ahh! My brain thinks of the worst way to say things."

Tommy bit his lip to keep from laughing at her slip.

"This time it'll just be me asking," Oliver promised. "Friendly mother-son chat." 

"I'll walk out with you," Tommy said as Oliver headed towards the stairs. "Don't want to be late for work." Once they were out of earshot, he asked, "Are you sure you want to talk to her alone?"

Oliver smiled, sadly. "It'll be fine," he said, squeezing Tommy's hand.

When they reached the floor, they saw Laurel standing there.

"Laurel? What are you doing here? It's not even 7:00 a.m.," Oliver pointed out. 

"That's just after closing time, right?" she teased. "Tommy, I didn't expect to see you here. I came to talk to Oliver."

"I was just leaving," Tommy said, silently asking Oliver if he wanted him to stay.

"I'll see you later," Oliver said. "We'll talk after my meeting."

Tommy nodded and turned to go, realizing they were going to need to tell Laurel the truth soon if she was going to keep showing up unexpectedly.

~~*~~

Tommy saw Oliver's face light up his phone's screen as he sat in his corner office. He immediately answered. "How'd it go?"

"She wouldn't open up to me," Oliver admitted. "I thought we were always honest with each other, but she lied to my face that nothing was going on."

"So, we're back to square one?" Tommy sighed.

"Not exactly," Oliver said, sounding guilty.

"Oliver?" Tommy nervously asked. "What did you do?"

"The Hood kidnapped us," Oliver confessed.

"What?" Tommy screeched, standing in his empty office. "I thought you said you were going to talk to her as you."

"I did," Oliver insisted. "Digg wore the hood, knocked us out with tranq darts, took us to a warehouse, tied us up, and asked the questions."

"What aren't you telling me?" Tommy demanded.

"He may have had to punch me a few times to make it look real," Oliver admitted.

Tommy wondered if this was what having a heart attack felt like. "He hurt you?" he weakly asked.

"Just a little," Oliver said. "Nothing that won't heal."

"Did it work, at least?" Tommy asked, collapsing back into his chair.

"It did," Oliver said, his smile present in his voice.

"So, tell me already," Tommy demanded.

"Hang on, I only want to do this once," Oliver said.

Tommy could hear what sounded like Oliver getting out of a car. "Where are you?"

"Verdant," Oliver said. "I told Digg I'd meet him and Felicity back here after I got my mom home. I'm putting you on video."

"Oh, my God. You said you were going to pull your punches!" Felicity growled at Digg, echoing his thoughts as he got a look at Oliver's face. 

Wait a minute, Felicity knew about this plan?

"I did," he said.

"Let me get you an icepack for…" Felicity ran her eyes over Oliver's body. "Everything."

"I'm fine," Oliver insisted, propping his phone against one of Felicity's monitors. "I need you to dig up everything you can on Unidac Industries."

Sitting in front of her computers, she said, "Well, we know Queen Consolidated acquired them seven months ago. That's when we met."

Tommy could see Oliver was trying not to smile. "I need information about what I don't know."

After doing a quick search, Felicity said, "Unidac is a small research and development technology company that specializes in seismic infringement." 

Oliver staggered back before slowly saying, "Merlyn plans on leveling the Glades with a device that triggers a man-made earthquake."

Tommy goggled at him. "You're kidding."

"What else does it say?" Oliver asked.

"More information on the stock auction and, you know, the latest on what the media's calling—"

"The Unidac massacre," Oliver said, cutting her off.

"There's no way this timing is a coincidence," Digg observed.

Sounding nervous, Felicity said, "Oliver, there's a website claiming the police suspect a copycat archer."

"What?!" Oliver exclaimed.

"So the other archer works for Merlyn?" Digg guessed.

"He's tying up loose ends," Oliver said. "Erasing all evidence this device exists so no one can trace the devastation back to him."

"All right, so you're going to have a pointed conversation with Mr. Merlyn," Digg said.

"Well, even if I take out Merlyn, the other archer is still out there. He can set off the device. We need to find it. Then Merlyn can get his." Oliver glanced at Tommy to see if he was okay with how this conversation was going, and outwardly he appeared fine.

"Well, maybe there's another way to get Merlyn to tell us," Felicity suggested, turning back to her babies.

"What do you have in mind?" Tommy asked, all for a solution that didn't involve Oliver killing his father, regardless of how he felt about him.

"As I keep proving, people keep secrets. Computers don't," she said, fingers flying over her keyboard.

"Felicity, are you hacking into the Merlyn Global mainframe?" Oliver asked.

"'Hacking' is such an ugly word. No. I'm…" She grinned. "Yeah, totally hacking into the Merlyn Global mainframe."

~~*~~

Tommy wasn't too surprised when his father asked him to liaise with the police. Not with the information that Felicity had already found tying Merlyn Global and Unidac Industries.

Although he would have preferred that the Detective in charge wasn't Laurel's father. 

"Well, we discovered a few phone calls between one of the Unidac victims and someone at the Merlyn Global Group. Which is why I asked for someone at your company to help me with my investigation. But naturally, they send down the one guy that's been working there 30 seconds and knows nothing," Lance said, barely trying to hide his distaste.

"Detective Lance, if someone from Merlyn Global is involved with those deaths, I want them found as much as you do. Give me more to go on than some phone calls and I will help you in any way that I can," Tommy promised. Maybe the police found a link that Felicity hadn't. It was doubtful, but possible.

"Thank you," Lance said, looking past Tommy. 

He turned, saw Laurel approaching, and stood.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Helping your father with an investigation," Tommy told her. Pulling out one of his new business cards, he handed it to Lance. "Uh, call me if you need anything else."

"Thank you," he said again and Tommy turned to leave. He wanted to swing by the lair on his way back to the office.

~~*~~

Tommy pulled Oliver off to the side when he arrived in the basement. "You call this fine?" he demanded, fingers running over the cuts and bruises on Oliver's face.

Oliver hissed and jerked away from Tommy's touch. "Compared to some of the fights I've been in, yes," Oliver said. Voice softening, he said, "They'll heal."

"Is that why you didn't tell me your plan?" Tommy asked. "I thought we agreed that you weren't going to keep secrets from me about what you were doing."

Oliver looked away guiltily. "It had to happen quickly. The first time I tried to talk to my mom she ran out of the room after seeing the news about the Unidac massacre and wouldn't tell me where she was going. I was covering all my bases, just in case she wouldn't open up to me. I didn't want you to worry."

"You still should have told me," Tommy pouted. "I entered this with open eyes, so don't keep me in the dark. Let me worry."

"I'm not used to having people worry about me," Oliver admitted. "It'll take some getting used to."

Felicity growled in frustration, drawing their attention back to their teammates.

"Anything?" Oliver asked, circling back to the computers with Tommy on his heels.

"Just for the record, I will pump my fist in the air and scream, 'yes!' if I get in," Felicity snapped.

"You know, you can just say this isn't working," Digg said, crouched next to her.

"This isn't working," Felicity stated.

"All right, there has to be some other way we can find out where he's keeping this device," Digg suggested, looking to Tommy.

"I'm afraid that I don't have access to those systems from my office computer. I already checked. Guess the old man doesn't trust me as much as he pretends," Tommy said, apologetically. 

"Unless I can waltz up to Merlyn's mainframe and plug in my tablet directly, there's no way of getting that location," Felicity said.

"Then we waltz," Oliver said.

Felicity looked at him like he was crazy. "Excuse me?"

"You need direct access to the mainframe, so we get you direct access to the mainframe, and we figure out where the device is being kept," he said, as if it were no big deal.

"Oliver, I did mention that the mainframe is located _inside_ Merlyn Global Group's main headquarters, on the 25th floor," Felicity pointed out as if he were a child. "It's only accessible through a restricted access elevator."

"I know," he said. "We're going to have to break in."

"Or," Tommy interrupted, grinning, "this is where my undercover position will prove useful. As the boss's son, I have access to the 25th floor."

"We'll need someone in the security control room," Digg said.

"I can help with that, too," Tommy said. "There are two guards that are on duty in the control room. I can get you in as one of them."

"We'll need to find a way to disable the other guard," Digg pointed out.

"Drug him," Oliver suggested. 

"How?" Tommy asked.

They all thought about that for a minute. 

A grin spread across Digg's face. "I bet I can get Carly to lend us a Big Belly delivery outfit for Felicity. That'll get her in the door as well as take care of our guard problem."

"That's brilliant," Felicity said. "What about you, Oliver?"

"I'll have an appointment with Tommy," Oliver said, smugly. "We do this tomorrow."

"I guess I better get back to the office so I can get Digg set up," Tommy said.

"I'll text you his cover info," Felicity called out as Tommy headed towards the stairs. He acknowledged her with a wave.

"Hey, wait up," Oliver said, jogging to catch up with Tommy on the stairs to the club. "Are we okay?"

"We're fine, Oliver." Tommy's smile was a little forced. "At least I'm in on the plan this time."

"Tommy…"

"Sorry." Tommy shrugged. "Maybe I'm still a little upset."

"I get it," Oliver said.

"Do you?" Tommy met his eyes. Without breaking eye contact, Oliver nodded. Tommy let out the breath he'd been holding.

"Will you be okay with the club alone tonight?" Tommy asked, shifting the conversation.

Oliver frowned. "Sure, if you need me to be."

Tommy nodded. "I think I need to go see Laurel tonight." Before Oliver could object, Tommy added, "She needs to know about us."

"You don't want to tell her together?" Oliver asked, clearly having assumed he'd be there when Laurel found out.

"I think this will be easier if it just comes from one of us. From me." Tommy sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I keep running into her, man. Here, at the police station earlier today, and it'll keep happening. I can't bear the look of hope in her eyes every time she sees me. She needs to know there's no hope."

"I could help drill that point home," Oliver offered.

"I don't want to hurt her more than I have to," Tommy said.

"I get that," Oliver agreed. "I don't want to hurt her either."

"This has got to be every girl's worst nightmare," Tommy commented. "Her two ex-boyfriends getting together."

"You mean, after her boyfriend slept with her sister who died because of him," Oliver pointed out.

Tommy winced. "Yeah, you definitely take the cake in the bad ex-boyfriend department."

"I haven't scared you off, have I?" Oliver semi-teased.

"I don't have a sister for you to sleep with," Tommy pointed out. "And if I did, you probably would have already slept with her."

"I should be offended, but you're probably right." Oliver leaned down to peck a kiss against Tommy's lips. "Swing by when you're done talking. I have a feeling you're going to need a drink."

"I have a feeling you are right," Tommy agreed.

~~*~~

Tommy ran a hand over his face and took a deep breath as he stood in front of the door to Laurel's apartment. Not so long ago this had been a place he could see himself calling home. A woman he had thought about calling wife. And now he was here to break her heart just a little bit more.

It had to be done before she found out from someone else, though.

With that thought, he knocked on the door.

Belatedly, he realized he probably should have called first as he heard the sounds of Laurel finding a weapon before opening the door.

"Tommy," she exclaimed in pleased surprise, hiding the baseball bat behind her back.

"Laurel, hi," he awkwardly greeted her. "I'm sorry to just show up, but I was hoping we could talk."

That hope he'd been dreading flashed through her eyes before she hid it.

"Of course," she said, stepping back so he could enter. She set the bat down as she gestured for Tommy to head into the living room.

Wiping his hands on his pants, he nervously sat on the sofa. Luckily, Laurel kept her distance when she joined him.

"How's the new job?" she asked, politely.

"It's strange, but good. It's what my father always wanted," Tommy said.

"When we were together, I never could have imagined that you'd ever work for him. Not after what he did to you," Laurel said. She smiled sadly to herself, "I guess I didn't know you as well as I thought I did."

"You knew me well enough," Tommy said. He coughed, stalling, before swallowing hard and forcing himself to get to it. "There's something I need to tell you."

"About us?" Laurel prompted.

"No," Tommy said firmly. "And yes."

"Which is it, Tommy?" Laurel asked, growing frustrated.

"I need you to understand that we're not going to get back together."

"You need more time," Laurel said, nodding.

"No, I'm with someone else."

Tommy braced himself for her confusion, and he got it. 

Her voice broke a little as she said, "Already? But it's barely been..." One look at Tommy's guilty expression told her everything she didn't want to know. She stood and began to pace. "No. There was no time for you to meet someone new while we were together."

"This isn't someone new," Tommy hesitantly said, standing as well.

Laurel's face scrunched up as she tried to work that one out. He could see her mentally running through all of the women they knew in common to try to figure out who he was with now.

Finally, through gritted teeth, she asked, "Who is she?"

"Oliver," Tommy said. 

Her face whipped up, mouth agape as she stared at him. "But you're... and he's..." She shook her head. "You're not gay. Neither of you are. I should know."

"Turns out we are, for each other," Tommy said, sheepishly.

"You both like women. I mean, really like women," Laurel insisted. "Ollie constantly cheated on me with all of those girls. Oh, God, what if it wasn't just girls. Tommy, do you know if he was sleeping with guys back then, too?"

Tommy cleared his throat. "As far as I know, I'm the only guy he's ever been with. And him for me."

Laurel rounded on him. "Were you sleeping with him when he and I were together?"

Tommy found himself backing up as she advanced on him until he hit a wall. "Only once in a while. I don't remember if it was while you were together or broken up."

Laurel's slap shouldn't have surprised him, and yet it did. His hand automatically went to his stinging cheek.

"Get out," Laurel growled.

"I'm sorry, Laurel," Tommy said, moving towards the door. "I didn't want to hurt you. I also didn't want you to find out from someone else."

"Out," Laurel repeated, grabbing the bat from where she'd left it near the door. Tommy hurried out of the apartment. "You two deserve each other," Laurel sneered as she slammed the door.

That actually went better than Tommy'd expected, he thought, as he headed for his car.

Deciding that he didn't feel like dealing with the crowds at Verdant, Tommy pulled his phone out to call Oliver.

"Tommy, hey, how'd it go?" Oliver greeted him.

"Not well, and better than I expected," Tommy said, wearily. "Look man, I'm gonna take a rain check on that drink. I'm not really up for the club crowd right now."

"Oh," Oliver sounded disappointed. "Okay. Do you want me to come over when I close up here?"

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I'm gonna call it an early night. I can fill you in tomorrow during our appointment."

"If you're sure…"

"I'm fine, Oliver," Tommy said, laughing. "I'll see you in the morning, 11:30 sharp."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place during 1x22 (Darkness on the Edge of Town). Some dialogue borrowed from episode.

Tommy nervously sat in his office, straightening the file folders on his desk for the eighth time as he watched the clock slowly move closer to 11:30. It was only 10am now.

He'd made sure to get to the office on time so that he could swing by security to greet the new guard. When they'd shaken hands in greeting Tommy had passed Digg the card that would get Felicity in the restricted elevator as well as into the server room. When they shook goodbye, Digg had slipped him a comm, which he immediately placed in his ear.

Oliver was supposed to drop Felicity off at Big Belly Burger to pick up the delivery outfit and to borrow their car used for deliveries.

Tommy had mostly tuned out their chatter as they prepared to leave the lair. With all of them out in the field today, they were going to have to use the mute buttons on the actual devices if they didn't want anyone to hear what they were saying. If they remembered to do so.

Tommy jolted in his seat when he heard Felicity screech, "What is that?"

"It's my bike," Oliver answered. "You've seen my bike before."

"And you expect me to ride it?" she asked, sounding slightly hysterical.

"You asked me to drop you at Big Belly," Oliver reminded her, clearly not understanding the problem.

"In a car! I assumed you'd drive if you knew you'd be having a passenger," Felicity said.

"I brought an extra helmet. Here." Tommy assumed that Oliver was holding out a helmet to Felicity and could imagine the horror that must have been on her face. "It's perfectly safe."

"I've seen you crash," she pointed out.

"Only when being chased by bad guys," Oliver reminded her. "That's not going to happen today."

Tommy heard some rustling and Oliver's voice was a bit distorted when he spoke again. He must have put his own helmet on.

"Trust me," Oliver implored.

"I do." 

Tommy heard Felicity take a deep breath and let it out before he heard the same rustling as she must have finally put on her helmet. There were other noises and then the roar of an engine.

"Hey, Felicity," Oliver said.

"Hmm?" Felicity murmured.

"Hold onto me tight."

"I imagined you saying that under different circumstances," Felicity muttered, then quickly added, "Very platonic circumstances."

Tommy burst out laughing, grateful he'd muted his comm hours ago. If he'd had any doubt about Felicity wanting Oliver, it was gone now. Hopefully Oliver would believe him now too.

"Ready?" Oliver asked, engine revving.

"Uh-huh," Felicity agreed before the bike clearly took off.

Tommy wished he could have been there to see Felicity holding on tightly to Oliver from the back of his bike. They'd look beautiful together. That's not the only way they'd be beautiful together, he mused.

Tommy let his thoughts drift until he finally heard Oliver and Felicity both report that they had arrived on the premises. Digg made a grunt of acknowledgement and Tommy unmuted his comm to say, "Good luck."

"Hi. Oliver Queen. I have an 11:30 with Tommy Merlyn," Oliver said at the security check-in.

A moment later he heard Felicity say, "I have a super deluxe Big Belly Buster for a Mr. Andrews. I think he's in security. He a good tipper?" Way to sell it, Tommy thought.

"You can go on up, Mr. Queen," the security guard said to Oliver, then told Felicity, "You can wait a second."

"New guy, you order food?" the guard in with Digg asked.

Digg confirmed, "Yeah, I'm addicted to Big Belly Burger."

"Never had it," the other guard admitted.

"I'll split it with you." Tommy could hear the smirk in his voice.

The first guard must have waved Felicity back because the next thing Tommy heard was Digg telling her to "Keep the change." The 'change' being the passcard.

The plan was for Oliver to ride up with Felicity and then double back to his office once she made it into the server room.

The elevator dinged and Tommy wished that Felicity could have hacked into the security feed from his computer so he could watch their progress. 

"Hold that," a voice called out. "Where you heading, sweetie?"

"19th Floor?" Felicity answered, clearly not interested.

"Too bad, I'm going to 13." There was the sound of papers falling. "Damn it!"

"What was that?" Tommy asked.

"That man's folders flew out of his hands before the elevator doors closed," Felicity informed him.

Ignoring the question, Oliver asked, "Mr. Andrews got his lunch?"

"One belly buster with benzodiazepine. Hold the mayo," she said.

"Sleep tight," Digg said to the unconscious security guard. "Mainframe's on 25, guys. Coast looks clear."

"Come on," Oliver said when the elevator dinged again, signaling their arrival on floor 25. "Security patrol's on a ten minute cycle. I'll have my meeting with Tommy and be back in nine, ok?"

"Okay," Felicity agreed, using Tommy's card and code to enter the server room.

"Digg, you got eyes on her?" Oliver confirmed as he headed down the stairs to Tommy's floor.

"Five by five," he agreed.

"Sure beats the back of a bar," Oliver said, entering Tommy's office.

Tommy stood and pulled Oliver into a hug. He made a show of muting his comm and waited for Oliver to do the same. 

"I've been so nervous all morning," Tommy admitted, running his hands down Oliver's arms.

"It's a solid plan," Oliver calmly told him. "We're all good." He caught Tommy's restless hands in his and gave them a squeeze. "Now tell me what happened with Laurel."

Tommy winced. "While telling her that we were together now, I may have let it slip that we used to sleep together in the past, too."

Oliver groaned. "I'm guessing she did not take that well."

Unconsciously, Tommy raised a hand to his cheek. "No, she did not."

"She hit you?" Oliver growled, his hand covering Tommy's.

Tommy shrugged. "I had just admitted to possibly being one of the people you cheated on her with. You can probably expect the same the next time you see her."

"You're probably right," Oliver agreed. He pulled their hands away from Tommy's cheek before bending to press a kiss along his jaw. Tommy sighed with pleasure and tilted his head to give Oliver better access.

Digg's voice interrupted them. "Guys, you got trouble."

"What?!" Felicity yelped.

"Felicity's about to have some ahead of schedule company," Digg relayed.

"I'm not there yet on the download," Felicity said, panicking.

"Hold tight, I'm on my way," Oliver said after he unmuted his comm, kissing Tommy quickly on his way out.

"Oliver." Tommy felt a shiver of fear at the sound of that voice.

"Mr. Merlyn," Oliver greeted him, using his fake cheerful voice.

"I must say, I'm surprised to see you here," Malcolm said. Tommy had told him that he'd left the club on bad terms, after all.

Smoothly, Oliver said, "Tommy and I just had a little unfinished business."

"Ahh," Malcolm acknowledged, "I know things have been challenging between you two, but I trust you're working things out."

Tommy smirked to himself. Things were working out rather well between them, thank you very much.

Digg urgently called, "Felicity!"

"Just a few more seconds," Felicity said.

"Yes," Oliver agreed, trying to get away to get to Felicity. "I'm sorry, I have to go. There are some investors waiting for me back at the club."

"I'm heading out to a meeting myself. I'll walk you down to the lobby," Malcolm offered.

"She's going to get made, Oliver," Digg frantically called out. "Oliver, did you hear me?! Felicity!"

"What?" she snapped. "Just a few more seconds! Come on, come on, come on." 

"You don't have a few more seconds," Digg insisted. 

Tommy heard the computer beep. 

"Yes!" Felicity exclaimed. "Wow, I really do do that." Tommy wondered if she had pumped her fist. He guessed she had.

"Damn it, Oliver, she's in trouble, where are you?" Digg asked.

"My dad caught him on his way down," Tommy said. "I'm coming now."

"Too late," Digg said, sounding like he was running. "Stay put and don't blow your cover."

A guard must have found Felicity as a new voice said, "This is a restricted area. Let's see some ID."

"ID? Um…" Felicity stalled.

"Tell your mother I said hello," Malcolm said to Oliver and Tommy knew how much it took Oliver to reply politely to that.

"I will," he promised. To the team he said, "Got held up. Heading back upstairs."

"Ollie?" Tommy thought he heard Thea's voice through Oliver's comm. Oh shit.

"Thea? What are you doing here?" Oliver asked.

"I, uh, just saw Tommy," she flawlessly said.

"She's lying," Tommy said. "Thea's never been up to my office."

"Yeah, me too," Oliver said, distracted by both Tommy's commentary and what was happening between Felicity and Digg. "I'm going to run back up, I don't want to be late."

"Oh, I thought you just came down," Thea pointed out.

"There you are!" Digg said. "Thanks a lot, man, this one snuck past security. One of Merlyn junior's bimbos. She's pissed he never called her back."

"Hey!" Tommy objected. 

"Copy that. I read the tabloids," the other guard said.

"Yeah. Thanks again," Digg told the guard. "Let's go, Barbie. Your new last name ain't going to be Merlyn."

Tommy's heart fluttered slightly at that thought. Felicity Merlyn had a nice ring to it.

Felicity did a passable impression of a rabid bimbo as she played along. "But I love him! He's my man!" Tommy could hear her laughter as they must have cleared the other guard. "You're my knight in shining armor."

Tommy listened as Oliver tried to get Thea and her friend Roy to leave, worried that she was helping him to track down the Hood. Even knowing that it was Oliver she was looking for didn't ease his concern. He could understand Oliver trying to keep him out of his Hood business now that Tommy wanted to do the same for Thea.

"I'm clear," Felicity said and Tommy released the breath he'd been holding. "I'm heading back to Big Belly to return the car and uniform before I dig into the information I downloaded."

"Finally got rid of Thea," Oliver reported. "Tommy, Digg, you guys finish out your day here and meet us at the club after work. Felicity, I'll pick you up at Big Belly." 

"You don't want us there sooner?" Tommy asked, wondering how he was going to make it another five hours.

"It's going to take me some time to go through everything," Felicity admitted. "I don't know if I'll even have anything useful by then. You may as well keep busy rather than sit around watching me on the computer."

~~*~~

By mid-afternoon, Tommy had distracted himself with enough work so that he wasn't constantly thinking about everything that could have gone wrong that morning. More wrong.

In fact, he was so focused on what he was doing that he didn't realize there was someone in his office until a throat was cleared. He jerked and looked up, surprised to see his father's smiling face watching him.

"It brings me great pleasure to see you so dedicated to your work here," Malcolm said.

Tommy stood and moved from behind his desk. "I told you that I was looking for a serious job," he said, unsure of why his father was there.

Malcolm turned to look out the window before casually saying, "I saw Oliver was here earlier."

Of course, Tommy knew this, but had to pretend he didn't know about their chance meeting in the hallway.

"Oh?" he commented. "Yes, he somehow managed to get on my calendar for this morning. I'll have to have a word with Danielle about who she sets up meetings for me with."

"So you weren't happy to see him?" Malcolm pressed.

Tommy wasn't sure how to answer. He wasn't sure what answer his father was looking for. A part of him wanted to just tell him the truth. Tell him that he and Oliver were together now; but to do so would jeopardize his cover, and he couldn't risk that just yet. Just because Felicity had been able to hack the mainframe didn't mean he couldn't still prove useful just by being there.

So he lied.

"Not in the least," Tommy said, injecting as much venom as possible into his voice.

Malcolm finally looked at him then. "Oliver seemed to be happy to see you."

"Oliver was the one who snuck onto my schedule without my knowledge," Tommy pointed out. "He's trying to win back my friendship. He should know that that bridge has been burned."

"You two were always so close," Malcolm mused. "I didn't ask before, but I think it's time that I did. What happened between the two of you?"

"Oliver happened," Tommy ground out. "He's still in love with Laurel."

"But she was with you. Aren't you the one who foolishly ended that relationship?" Malcolm pressed.

"I did, because I knew that if she thought she could have Oliver back that she would leave me. I wasn't going to stick around and wait for her to dump me for my former best friend. I have more respect for myself than that."

"I'm glad to hear that," Malcolm said. "Laurel was too much of a bleeding heart, like your mother. That job of hers is going to get her killed one day, and I'm glad you won't have to be there to see it happen. You need to find a woman who wouldn't even think about setting foot in the Glades."

Or a man, Tommy thought. Although his man spent most of his time in the Glades; and he couldn't be prouder.

"I couldn't agree with you more," Tommy said instead, smiling for all he was worth, thinking about how satisfying it was going to be when they brought this elitist son of a bitch down.

"I'll let you return to your work," Malcolm said, heading for the door. Before departing, he turned back to add, "And don't forget the first rule of business."

"Always have a backup in place," Tommy finished.

~~*~~

Tommy was the last to arrive at Verdant that evening and Felicity was already filling the other guys in as he descended the stairs. He tried not to let himself get distracted by Oliver having his shirtsleeves rolled up as he joined the group.

"In addition to the download, I also took the liberty of uploading a trojan to Merlyn's system. Figured it might come in handy."

"That's smart," Digg commented. "If Merlyn thinks he's been compromised, it'll help if we know first."

"Can you locate the seismic device?" Oliver asked.

"I'm working on it. But there's at least a terabyte of data to go through," Felicity said.

They all watched as Oliver paced over to the trunk he'd brought back from Lian Yu. 

Finally, Tommy asked. "You all right?"

"My father, he told me that he failed the city. Asked me to right his wrongs, but I never knew what he meant until now." He picked up the battered notebook. "It's the Undertaking. I promised myself that when I crossed all these names off the list, I'd be done, but, taking down these people, it doesn't honor him. I was just treating the symptoms while the disease festered. I stop the Undertaking; I wipe out the disease."

"What are you saying, Oliver? You would hang up the Hood?" Digg asked.

"Merlyn's plan is what I returned from the island to stop," Oliver said with conviction. A look of determination settled over his face and Oliver grabbed Tommy's hand as he headed towards the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Digg called after them.

"Out," Oliver tossed over his shoulder.

"Where _are_ we going?" Tommy asked once they were in Oliver's car.

"Your place," Oliver said, gunning the engine. "I realized something and I wanted some privacy."

"You could just tell me now," Tommy cajoled.

"Not while I'm driving," Oliver said, reaching over to squeeze Tommy's thigh.

Ignoring the thrill that squeeze sent through his body, Tommy said, "Then I'll tell you about my afternoon." He took a deep breath. "My father stopped by to see me to ask why you had come to my office."

Oliver's brows furrowed. "But I told him we had unfinished business."

"I guess he was concerned about what that unfinished business was," Tommy said, shrugging. "I told him it was about Laurel."

"You didn't tell him about us?" Oliver asked. 

Tommy shook his head. "I wanted to. Believe me, I really wanted to; but no, I'll save that for when we no longer need my cover."

"Then why do you think he cared?" 

"You don't think he knows about Felicity's trojan, do you?" Tommy asked, grasping Oliver's hand. "If he does, maybe he thought you had something to do with it."

"Felicity's good, she wouldn't make it so easy to be found," Oliver said, confidently.

"Are you sure?" Tommy asked, nervous. His father could be vicious if he thought someone was trying to steal from him.

"I'm sure. I trust her," Oliver said. 

"Or is it just that you like having her hold onto you tight?" Tommy teased, deciding to let it go for now.

Oliver groaned. "You heard that?"

"You bet I did. Do you still doubt that she wants you?" Tommy asked, laughing.

"No," Oliver admitted. "And I can't deny that it felt good having her hold me on that ride either. If she's open to it, I'm going to stop fighting you on this."

"I told you, she'll be open to it," Tommy said. "Even if she's just tolerating me being there so she can be with you, she'll be open to it."

Oliver parked outside Tommy's building and was silent as they went inside. Oliver wasn't the most talkative of guys on a normal day, but this silence was worrying Tommy a bit.

Once inside the apartment, Oliver said, "Wow, I thought this was going to be easier to say. But now I'm standing here, looking at you, and it's--" 

Tommy ran his hands down Oliver's arms. "Just say what you have to say, ok?" 

"Ever since I've been back, we've been doing this dance. We come together, and then I pull away. I regress into old habits. But then I stopped running and I let you in and got more than I ever dreamed. By stopping the Undertaking--" 

"What are you trying to say?" Tommy asked. 

"That you know me better than anyone. And that you are more important to me than anyone. When this is over with, I want to take us public. I just hope I didn't wait too long to say it." 

"You didn't," Tommy said, leaning in for a kiss. "You're right on time."

Oliver started to pull Tommy into his arms before switching tactics and reaching between them to pull at the buttons on Tommy's shirt as Tommy did the same to him, never breaking the frenetic kiss.

Once both their shirts are gone, they couldn't get close enough to the other. Hell, if he were a girl, Tommy would probably have his legs around Oliver's waist. He bet that Oliver could support him. He pushed that thought out of his head as he maneuvered Oliver towards his bedroom.

As they passed through the living room, Oliver pressed him against a window. First while their mouths were still locked together and then when Oliver turned him around to attack the back of his neck. He knew that was a particularly sensitive spot for him.

Through his haze of lust, Tommy thought he saw Laurel standing on the street beneath his window, looking up at them in horror.

Tommy closed his eyes and was about to say something to Oliver when he felt Oliver's hands open his belt and slide down his zipper. When he felt a hand wrap around his throbbing cock, his eyes shot open and Laurel was gone. 

He breathed an internal sigh of relief and turned around, pushing Laurel out of his thoughts as he pushed his tongue between Oliver's lips.

He pulled back only long enough to mutter "bedroom" before reclaiming Oliver's mouth. Oliver grunted his agreement and he could feel Oliver's muscles shift as he bent to grab his ass, as if to pick him up. 

Tommy broke the kiss, laughing. Grasping Oliver's hand, he pulled him towards his bedroom. "This way, big guy."

The second that Tommy stopped walking, Oliver was pressed against his back, mouth on his neck and hand down his pants. Tommy groaned and pressed into Oliver. He reached back to squeeze Oliver's ass, causing him to press even more insistently against him. 

"This'll be easier without our pants on," Tommy gasped, writhing against Oliver.

"Does that mean that I have to stop touching you?" Oliver asked against his skin.

"Just for a little while."

"Don't like that plan," Oliver grumbled.

"I want you inside me when I come, Oliver," Tommy panted, "and that's not going to happen if you keep this up."

Oliver's brain must have short circuited because he froze. Tommy took the opportunity to reluctantly pull Oliver's hand away from his very eager cock and turn around. 

He stroked the scruff on Oliver's jaw until the other man came back to himself. "You still with me, buddy?" Tommy asked. 

Oliver's mouth descended to devour his. Tommy reciprocated, holding Oliver's face as their tongues dueled for dominance. 

They began to move closer to the bed until Tommy fell back against it. They used that forced separation to divest each other of their remaining clothing. 

As Oliver climbed onto the bed, Tommy reached for the bedside table and pulled a handful of condoms and lube from the drawer.

"A bit optimistic there?" Oliver teased.

"Always," Tommy grinned, pulling Oliver over him and handing him the lube. "You remember what to do?"

Oliver swallowed and settled on his knees between Tommy's legs, looking down at Tommy lying sprawled on the bed, naked and relaxed and very hard.

"Yeah," Oliver croaked, spreading some of the lube on his fingers before stretching out over Tommy's body. 

Tommy's mouth latched onto Oliver's neck as Oliver prepared him. One of his hands reached out to stroke Oliver, causing the other man to hiss with pleasure.

Unable to wait any longer, Tommy blindly reached next to him for one of the condoms and got it on Oliver with practiced ease. He stroked Oliver again with lube-covered fingers before guiding him to where he needed him. 

"I think that's good enough," he panted, "Need you inside me. Now!"

"Fuck, yes," Oliver agreed, easing his fingers from Tommy's body before lining himself up and slowly pushing in.

Tommy held his breath against the initial, expected, pain, but Oliver began to stroke his cock as he worked his own slowly inside Tommy. 

As his body loosened and accommodated Oliver, Tommy relaxed the death grip he'd had on Oliver's biceps, which in turn relaxed his entire body, allowing Oliver to sink fully into him. 

"Yes," he sighed, eyes focusing on Oliver's face. He was wearing such a look of concentration that Tommy simply had to lean up and kiss it off of him. Oliver soon took control of the kiss as he began to move within Tommy. 

Once Oliver began to rub against his prostate, Tommy's mind whited out, and he lost himself to sensation.

It was some time later that he found himself blinking his eyes open as Oliver ran a warm, damp washcloth over his chest. 

"Welcome back," Oliver said, teasingly. He tossed the washcloth towards the bathroom and stretched out next to Tommy on the bed.

"What'd I miss?" Tommy groggily asked, wiping a hand over his face.

"A couple of pretty spectacular orgasms," Oliver informed him. "I'm pretty sure you passed out during yours so you completely missed mine. I don't think I've ever made someone pass out before." Oliver leaned down to kiss him.

"Don't expect that to be a regular occurrence," Tommy said, embarrassed. "I don't think I've ever passed out on someone before. I was a little overwhelmed."

Oliver pulled Tommy against his side. "C'mon, let's get some rest while we can. Felicity will call when they need us."

Tommy let Oliver's body heat and the hand trailing along his back lull him into sleep.

~~*~~

Tommy stirred as Oliver's phone rung. Oliver kissed his head before grabbing the phone and answering. He put it on speaker.

"What is it?" Oliver asked, settling back against Tommy.

"Felicity found the Markov device," Digg informed them. "Merlyn's keeping it at a warehouse his company owns in the Glades."

"Good. Coordinate an attack. You take the device, I'll take Merlyn. Got a location?" He warily met Tommy's eyes to make sure he was okay with this. Tommy nodded.

"Yeah. According to Felicity's trojan, Merlyn's logged on to his computer from his office."

"I'm on my way," Oliver said, ringing off. 

"So this is it?" Tommy asked. "This is where you kill my father?"

Oliver turned to face Tommy. "That's not my preference. I just need to stop him any way possible; which may mean that I have to kill him. Can you live with that?"

"I guess we'll find out," Tommy said. "I can't predict how I'm going to feel if it comes to that. I'd like to think that it won't mean anything after everything we've learned about him, but emotions are tricky things. I won't know until it happens."

"I'll do my best not to kill him," Oliver promised, kissing him.

"C'mon, we better get to the Foundry," Tommy reluctantly said, rolling out of bed.

"Where do you think you're going?" 

"To the Foundry," Tommy stated. "There is no way that I am not listening in on comms for this confrontation." 

"I wasn't planning on going to the Foundry," Oliver said, trying another tactic. "My gear is in the car."

"If you don't want to drop me off then I'll take a taxi. Either way, I'm going," Tommy stood his ground.

"Fine, just hurry up," Oliver capitulated, pulling on his own clothes.

~~*~~

Oliver did end up dropping Tommy off, only going in long enough to change into his gear and switching the car for the Ducati.

As soon as Oliver left, Tommy pulled up a chair next to Felicity and put in the comm she'd left out for him.

"Are we going to be able to watch this time?" he asked.

"I've been trying to access the cameras in your dad's office, but I can't get in," Felicity admitted. "He is way too paranoid."

"You don't know the half of it. The floor his office is on is on a separate power grid. He has a panic room in there too," Tommy said.

"His office is on a separate power system?" Felicity asked, eagerly.

"Uh, huh," Tommy confirmed, watching as her fingers flew across the keyboard.

"No wonder I couldn't get in using my trojan," she mumbled. "He must be partitioned off from that system, only accessing the main server to back up his files."

A few minutes later Felicity pumped her fist as the interior of Malcolm Merlyn's office popped up on the screen.

"Felicity, you are a genius," Tommy beamed.

"That's what I've been saying," she agreed.

Malcolm was on the phone. He glanced at the computer screen and then stood to look out the window.

Suddenly there was sound as Oliver entered the office, bow raised and arrow notched.

"Very well, I'll be in touch," Malcolm was saying. "Can I help you? No, I wasn't talking to you." He turned to face Oliver calmly, lowering the phone.

"Malcolm Merlyn, you have failed this city." 

A shiver ran down Tommy's spine hearing those words directed at his father. He knew they were true, but the little boy in him still didn't want to believe it about his daddy.

"And how have I done that?" Malcolm taunted.

"The Undertaking," Oliver prompted. "It ends now."

Digg's voice interrupted, "Oliver, the device. It's gone."

Taking aim, Oliver demanded, "Where's the device?"

Malcolm smirked, coldly. "Safe. I don't know how you got that trojan onto my system," Tommy and Felicity traded looks, "but it prompted me to take precautions. There is nothing you can do to stop what is about to happen. And you shouldn't. This city needs what is about to happen in order to survive. The people who are destroying it from the inside need to be erased from the map."

"Fine. Let's start with you." Oliver loosed an arrow. Malcolm caught it, causing both Tommy and Felicity to gasp.

"How did he do that?" Felicity asked. Tommy merely shook his head, wondering the same thing.

"Ironic, isn't it?" Malcolm mused aloud. "Last Christmas, I almost killed you. A few months ago, you saved my life. And now you're here trying to kill me. You should make up your mind."

"Done." 

They began to fight in earnest. Tommy was in shock. When Deadshot and the Triad had been after his father, he'd watched him kill some of those men. But this; this was different. These were the moves of a skilled fighter. 

No, a skilled assassin. Like the copycat archer. What his father just said clicked into place. He was an even bigger bad guy than they'd guessed.

"He's the other archer," Tommy whispered in horror. "He killed everyone at Unidac and tried to kill Oliver last Christmas."

"What? No," Felicity said, not tearing her eyes away from the brutal fight on the screens before them.

"It makes sense if you connect the dots," Tommy said, cringing as Oliver went down hard and Malcolm kicked him repeatedly in the kidneys.

With a final punch, Malcolm knocked Oliver out. 

Malcolm leaned down and pulled back the hood. "Oh, no," he gasped, echoing the words of Foundry's occupants.

It was then that they realized that they hadn't heard what Malcolm had said upon this discovery. Oliver's comm must have fallen out and been crushed during the fight.

"Digg," Felicity cried out, unmuting their comms, "He's down. Oliver's down and Malcolm knows who he is."

"Shit," Digg said. "I'm on my way back. Don't do anything until I get there."

"But my father has Oliver," Tommy protested. "He's the Dark Archer."

"Don't. Do. Anything." Digg repeated. "I'm almost there. We'll come up with a plan to get Oliver back, but do not make a move without me."

"Okay, we won't," Felicity promised. "Just hurry back."

Glancing back at the monitors, Felicity reached out as if she could stop what she was seeing. "No!"

Tommy looked back in time to see his father pick Oliver up in a fireman's carry and leave the office.

Tommy stood, pushing his chair away and headed straight for one of the training dummies. He punched it as hard as he could. 

"Ow! Fuck!" he bellowed, cradling his now bruised knuckles. 

Felicity rushed over to him. "Why did you do that?" she asked, examining his hand. She pulled him over to the medical area and got an ice pack for him. 

"Because it was either that or burst into tears," Tommy admitted. He could still feel Oliver pressed against him, inside him, when he closed his eyes. That couldn't be it for them. It couldn't.

Felicity pulled him into a hug. It wasn't the body he wanted pressed against his right then, but Tommy would take what comfort he could get at that moment; and give what little he could.

"The tracker in his boot should still be active," she said, face pressed against his chest. "We'll find him wherever Malcolm takes him."

Tommy pulled back far enough to look down at her. A wide smile broke across his face and he bent down to press a quick kiss to her lips.

Felicity kissed him back for just a moment before pushing away from him completely, blushing furiously.

"It was a thank you kiss, nothing more," Tommy said before Felicity could get all flustered. "Mostly nothing more," he muttered too low for her to hear.

"I-I know," Felicity said, going back to her babies. "You just caught me by surprise."

Digg burst into the room then, running down the stairs. "What's this about surprise kisses? You know what, I don't want to know. Felicity, where are you at with the tracker?"

"They're still on the move," she said. 

"How you holding up, man?" Digg asked Tommy, eyeing the ice pack on his hand. 

"My father is a super villain and he has beaten up and taken my boyfriend who knows where. I've been better," Tommy snarked.

Digg rested a hand on his shoulder. "We'll find him. Felicity will track him down and then I'll go get him. This isn't over."

"No, it's not," Tommy agreed. Even if he had to take one of Digg's guns and confront his father himself, this was far from over.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place during 1x23 (Sacrifice). Some dialogue borrowed from episode.

Felicity had to go into work, so it was Tommy who convinced Digg to get on the road sooner rather than later, guiding him to Oliver's destination using Felicity's tracking software. Digg was only about a half hour behind them.

Tommy could hear gunshots over the comm and prayed that they were all coming from Digg. He trusted that Digg would shoot to disable and not to kill. Finally he heard Digg say, "I take back every joke I made about you sticking a tracking device in your boot."

Digg must have given Oliver the comm Tommy had insisted he take with him because a moment later he heard Oliver loud and clear in his ear. 

"I figured something like this would happen sooner or later," Oliver grunted. There were loud sounds of metal scraping against metal and then a swoosh and clang, like metal chains being dropped on the ground. Tommy guessed that Digg was helping him to get out of the warehouse they'd tracked Oliver to.

"Are you alright?" Tommy asked; his knuckles white on the desktop before him.

"Tommy," Oliver sighed. "I'm a little bruised, but I'll be fine."

"That fight didn't look fine," Tommy protested.

"You saw that?" 

"Felicity hacked into the cameras in my dad's office," Tommy confirmed. "Oliver, he knows who you are."

"I know," Oliver grunted in agreement, and pain. "We had a little chat when I came to."

"About what?" Digg asked.

"Nothing we didn't already know," Oliver said, wearily. "I'm gonna rest on the way back. We'll talk soon."

Tommy tried not to let himself get too worked up while he tracked Oliver's progress back to the Foundry. He busied himself by setting out the antiseptic wipes and bandages, like he'd seen Felicity do in the past.

Finally, the door from the club clanged open.

"Felicity's at Queen Consolidated," Digg was saying. "She's still going through the data she pulled off Merlyn's network." 

"Did she find anything?" Oliver asked, slowly moving into Tommy's embrace.

"Yeah, the design schematics of the earthquake generator," Digg said. "So we can shut it down. Assuming we find it in time." 

Digg's cell phone rang and he answered, "Yeah, Felicity, I got him." 

While Digg's back was to them, Tommy stole a kiss. It gave him the opportunity to pull Oliver tighter to him. When Oliver winced, Tommy released him.

"You're not alright," he scolded.

"I don't have time not to be," Oliver pointed out.

"Oliver, you can't fight him again, not when you're this banged up," Tommy pointed out.

"I may not have a choice," Oliver said. "He's going to go through with it."

"Felicity's on her way," Digg reported, interrupting them. "And I agree with Tommy; you're in no shape to go up against Merlyn again. I'm not even sure how you managed to take down Merlyn's men before I got to you."

Oliver glared at Digg as Tommy's head whipped around to Oliver.

"You didn't say anything about taking down his men," Tommy said, his voice accusatory.

"Because you didn't need to know about it," Oliver bit out. Oliver finally stopped staring holes through Digg, who did not look sorry for his revelation, to meet Tommy's eyes. "Once I got my chains free from the pipe in the ceiling, I had to kill them before they killed me. I'm sure Merlyn told them to not let me get out of there alive. In situations like that, it's kill or be killed."

Tommy took a disbelieving step back, pulling away from Oliver's reaching hand. This was the part that he'd tried so hard not to think about. This was the side of Oliver that he'd been so frightened of when he'd first found out that Oliver was the Hood. He didn't know how to wrap his head around the fact that his boyfriend could be a cold-blooded killer.

"He's right, you know," Digg said. "Those men were there to stop Oliver from leaving at all costs. And he couldn't leave them able to warn Merlyn that he was free."

"I get that, I do," Tommy said. Maybe his head did, but his heart was still struggling. "But I'm not like you guys; I've never had my life on the line like you have so it's harder for me to live with killing as an acceptable outcome in a situation."

"That's why it's good for us to have people like you and Felicity around to keep reminding us that killing shouldn't be a go-to solution," Digg said. "I'll give you two a moment."

Oliver waited until Digg had left the room to approach Tommy. "I know that me killing was one of the things that repulsed you the most when you found out about who I really was," Oliver said, his hand clenching beside him as he resisted the urge to touch Tommy. "Do you think you can forgive me for falling back on such ingrained instincts?"

Tommy turned around to face Oliver, so much emotion running through his eyes. "You have no idea how much I wish that killing wasn't a natural instinct to you." 

His hand reached out to cup Oliver's cheek, his thumb rubbing against the ever-present stubble. Oliver sighed into the touch.

"I wish that, too," Oliver admitted. "I wish a lot of things had been different about those five years."

Bringing his other hand up to cup Oliver's other cheek, Tommy solemnly said, "Just to be clear, while I may not like it, if the choice is between them dying and you dying, I choose you doing what you have to do to come home to me."

Oliver's arms wrapped around Tommy as they met in a heated kiss, teeth clacking together in their fervor until they melted into a deeper exchange. They remained locked together until Digg cleared his throat, announcing his return.

"Felicity should have been here by now," he said, looking away until Tommy and Oliver had separated.

"Maybe she got stuck in traffic," Tommy suggested, trying to get his breathing, and libido, back under control.

Seeming not to have heard them, or ignoring the idea that something could have happened to delay Felicity, Oliver said, "We need to get people out of the Glades." He slowly moved towards Felicity's desk and the phone that sat on it. "We're going to have to go to the police with this."

"Are you sure that's a smart idea?" Tommy asked, going along with the change in topic.

"We don't have a choice," Oliver said, picking up the phone. Tommy stayed close so he could hear both sides of the conversation. "Hello, Detective." 

"It's funny you should call. I got your trusty sidekick sitting right in front of me."

Oliver glanced at Tommy sideways and Tommy moved to pull up Felicity's tracking device on the computer. Sure enough, she was at the police station.

"I don't have a sidekick. When I need help, I call you," Oliver smoothly covered. "Malcolm Merlyn plans to level the Glades with a manmade earthquake using technology from Unidac Industries." 

"What?" Lance huffed out a laugh. "Now you're just trying to have some fun with me."

"I don't know what Merlyn's timetable is, so you need to evacuate the Glades immediately. Get as many people to safety as you can. Whatever you think of me, Detective, please... believe this." He hung up.

"Is he going to do it?" Digg asked.

"I think he'll try," Oliver said.

"If Felicity is going to be a while longer, I am going to take you to get some food," Tommy said to Oliver.

"There's no time," Oliver protested.

Tommy moved in front of Oliver, blocking his attempts at avoidance. "You're exhausted. You're bruised and battered and I bet you can't tell me the last time you had a decent meal."

"We need to come up with a plan--"

"We will," Tommy agreed. "After Digg cleans those cuts and you've eaten something."

Oliver turned pleading eyes to Digg, who simply crossed his arms and said. "You'll need to keep up your strength if you have to fight Merlyn again."

Tommy looked smug as Oliver sighed and reached for his street clothes. "Fine. But make it quick. I should try talking to my mom one more time while we're out."

"Big Belly, here we come," Tommy said, grinning. 

As they crossed the floor of the club on their way out twenty minutes later, they heard Laurel laugh harshly. "Look who it is. My exes." 

"Hey, Laurel," Oliver said. 

"I ignored your advice, you know," she said to Oliver. "I went to Tommy's, to apologize to him. So imagine my surprise seeing you there, kissing him." She slapped him.

Tommy winced in sympathy, having been on the receiving end of one of her slaps recently himself. He realized that he never told Oliver that he'd seen Laurel outside the apartment that night as he'd been a little distracted at the time.

"I'm sorry," Oliver said. 

"No, you're not," she bit out. 

Looking at Tommy, Oliver agreed, "No, I'm not."

"We're not," Tommy said, stepping closer to Oliver.

"I should have listened to my instincts and never gotten involved with you," Laurel told Tommy. Then she turned to Oliver. "I wish you would have died on that island."

"You don't mean that," Tommy protested.

"You have made a fool of me," Laurel hissed. "Both of you."

"That wasn't our intention," Oliver said. 

"Just, stay away from me," Laurel said, stomping out.

Once she was gone, Tommy said, "Do you suppose it would be rude to point out that she keeps seeking us out?" Oliver simply stared at him. "Yeah, you're right. Let's get some food in you."

~~*~~

After a quick meal of burgers and fries, Tommy drove Oliver to the Queen Mansion. Oliver had insisted he could drive himself, but Tommy wasn't ready to let Oliver out of his sight for longer than he had to.

While Oliver went in search of his mother upstairs, Tommy settled in the living room with his phone. With everything being so crazy lately he hadn't looked at his email in ages.

"Tommy, what are you doing here?" Thea asked, wandering into the room. "Where's Ollie?"

"Thea, hi," Tommy said, standing. "He needed to talk to your mom about something private."

"Is he telling her about you?" she giddily asked. 

"Not today, no," Tommy said, trying not to laugh at the disappointed look on Thea's face. 

"I guess that's just as well," she said, "I do want to be present when he tells her. She's going to flip."

"I don't see how that's going to be a good thing," Tommy said. 

"For you, it probably won't be," Thea agreed with a shrug. "But it'll be awesome for me."

"How so?" Tommy asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Because then my boyfriend from the Glades won't seem so bad," she said, grinning.

Tommy crossed his arms over his chest, adopting his best disapproving older brother expression. "You're dating a boy from the Glades? Is it that guy you tried to get to work at the club who never showed up? The one the vigilante saved?" 

"Yeah, that would be Roy," Thea confirmed.

"I think I may need to properly meet this Roy," Tommy said.

Thea simply rolled her eyes. "Ollie met him and already did the disapproving brother thing. He doesn't need it from you, too."

"We'll have to see about that," Tommy huffed. "Is it serious?"

Looking almost vulnerable, Thea dropped the tough girl act and shyly smiled. "Yeah, it kinda is. I think I love him."

"He's not good enough for you," Tommy said, pulling her into a light hug.

"Because he's from the Glades?" Thea demanded, pushing away from him.

"Because no one will ever be good enough for you," Tommy countered.

"I'd have to agree with that," Oliver said, entering the room.

"Not you too, Ollie," Thea groaned. "Just what I needed, two disapproving big brothers."

"Thea, I need you to do something for me. Stay out of the Glades tonight." He briefly met Tommy's eyes, letting the weight of that request sink in before looking back at his sister.

"Why?" Thea asked, her hackles rising again. 

"You'll know soon. One way or the other." Oliver looked at Tommy. "We have to go."

~~*~~

"The Undertaking is happening tonight," Oliver announced as they entered the lair.

"Oliver, Felicity may have found something," Digg said. 

Felicity held up the notebook, open to the inside cover. "This symbol is a map of the old subway tunnel system." 

"That's what got us thinking the Undertaking is connected to the Glades," Oliver agreed. 

"What if it's more specific than that?" Felicity postulated. 

"What do you mean?" Tommy asked. 

"If I had a machine that could trigger an earthquake in an otherwise geologically stable area, where would I position it?" she asked. 

"Underground," Oliver guessed, catching on.

"Yeah," Felicity agreed. Turning back to her computers, she continued. "This is a U.S. geological survey of the tectonic plates running underneath Starling City. This red line here is a known fault that runs right below the Glades." 

Digg picked up the narrative. "About a mile; the fault runs underneath the old Tenth Street subway line." 

"Dollars to donuts, the seismic device is somewhere along there," Felicity said. 

Oliver and Tommy exchanged a look. "I know where it is," Tommy said, swallowing hard. 

Oliver's cell phone buzzed and he answered it, seeing it was Thea. "Now is not a good time." He frowned. "What channel? Felicity, pull up the local news, please." 

On the screen, Moira was holding a press conference. "My name is Moira Dearden Queen. I am the acting CEO of Queen Consolidated and, God forgive me, I have failed the city. For the past five years, under the threat for my life and the lives of my family I have been complicit in an undertaking with one horrible purpose-- to destroy the Glades and everyone in it. I realize now that my family's safety will mean nothing if I let this dreadful act occur. But you need to know that the architect of this nightmare is Malcolm Merlyn."

Tommy slipped his hand into Oliver's, who squeezed back.

"Yes," Moira continued, "and I have proof that he has killed dozens in pursuit of this madness. Adam Hunt, Frank Chen, and my husband Robert. Please. If you reside in the Glades, you need to get out now. Your lives and the lives of your children depend on it. Please."

Felicity turned off the sound as the reporters started asking questions and they all turned to Oliver. 

"I didn't think she'd actually do anything," he said in disbelief. 

"She's always been a strong woman," Tommy reminded him. 

"Oliver, I'm sorry," Felicity offered. 

"Don't be. She gave those people a chance," Oliver said. He went over to his trunk and flipped open the lid. 

Recognizing the action, Digg said, "I thought Merlyn broke your bow." 

"I have another," Oliver said, removing a plain black bow.

"I was going over the device schematics," Felicity offered. "The device can be set for a timed detonation or can be remote activated by a mobile transmitter." 

"Something Merlyn could have on him," Oliver acknowledged. 

"Listen, Oliver, if we can just get our hands on this transmitter, maybe we don't need to track down the device," Digg suggested. 

"It's too big of an 'if', Digg. I need you in the subway. Find the device, disarm it," Oliver insisted. 

"So you can take on Merlyn by yourself?" Digg questioned.

"I have to," Oliver said. 

"Oh, he'll kill you, Oliver," Tommy objected. 

"I know. He's beaten me twice. And I don't know how to stop him," he said, resigned. 

"Ok," Digg said. "Well, how about this time, you bring along something you didn't have the last time you two fought-- Me." 

"I can't let you." 

"I can't let you do this by yourself, man. Oliver, you are not alone, not since you brought me into this. Us into this," he added, looking to Felicity and Tommy. "Besides, Army regulations-- a soldier never lets a brother go into battle alone." 

Digg held out his hand and Tommy held his breath until Oliver clasped it.

"I'm out of bows," Oliver teased. 

Digg grinned. "I got my gun." 

"I guess it's up to me to do the dismantling," Felicity said. 

"This whole area is ground zero. I want you both out of here," Oliver said, looking at Felicity and Tommy.

Felicity moved closer to them. "If you're not leaving, I'm not leaving. Besides, if I don't deactivate the device, who will?" 

"I will," Tommy insisted. "Or at least one of them. Knowing my father, we should be looking for two devices. He likes his backups. If I were him, I'd place one on either side of the Glades to ensure maximum damage." Before Oliver could voice his objection, he added, "Not. A. Damsel. I have two hands and a comm and Felicity can guide me through it."

Oliver took a deep breath and finally said, "Thank you, Tommy."

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to talk to my dad before the cops try to arrest him," Tommy said. "I've got my comm and will check in when I'm done with him."

"Be careful," Oliver said, kissing him briefly. 

"You too," Tommy said before tearing himself away.

~~*~~

"Is it true?" Tommy asked by way of greeting as he marched into his father's office. "Did you kill all those people?"

"I did what I had to do," Malcolm coldly stated. 

"You know, when Oliver told me you wanted to nuke the Glades, I didn't want to believe him." He poured himself a drink from the wet bar. "You know, it's funny, scotch doesn't make it any more believable."

"It's true, Tommy. It's the reason I closed your mother's clinic. I didn't want to see it leveled," Malcolm said with more tenderness than Tommy had heard from him in years.

"What?" 

"I have something I'd like you to listen to," Malcolm said, removing a digital player from a box on his desk. "The night your mother died, she called me. I awoke to a voicemail from her. Her final gift to me." 

Tommy shivered as his mother's voice, which he hadn't heard in twenty years, trembled out of the device. 

_"Malcolm, I'm in trouble. I told--I told him to take everything. My money, my ring."_

"Turn it off," Tommy begged. He didn't want to hear this. 

Malcolm didn't even hear him. 

_"They shot me. I screamed for help, but no one would come. No one would come. Malcolm, I don't want to die alone."_

Tommy tossed back the rest of the drink and set the glass down as his hands began to shake. 

"She bled out into the pavement while people passed and did nothing." Rebecca was still crying on the recording. "Your mother built her clinic in the Glades because she wanted to save this city. It can't be saved. Because the people there don't want it to be saved." 

"So you kill them all--" 

Malcolm cut him off. "Yes! They deserve to die! All of them! The way she died." 

Tommy had never heard his father speak with such a violent passion and it scared him in a way that his father had never scared him before.

Malcolm moved to a wall with several paintings on it and pushed one to the side to reveal a biometric pad. When he pressed his thumb to it, the wall slid open to reveal a hidden room. Tommy had known about the panic room, but he hadn't seen the Dark Archer costume in it before, or the vast array of weaponry.

Just then, several SWAT officers burst into the room. "Freeze! Malcolm Merlyn, you are under arrest. Don't move!" 

Malcolm slipped into the room and gunfire erupted. Malcolm reappeared moments later, sword in hand and quickly dispatched the cops. 

Tommy pulled a gun off of one of the down cops and raised it to his father. "Dad, no! Please, Dad. Stay back. I don't want to hurt you." 

"You can't. And you can't stop me," Malcolm said before punching Tommy hard enough to knock him out.

~~*~~

"Looks like we missed him," Digg said, his voice sounding very far away.

Tommy groaned from his position on the floor.

"Tommy. Tommy!" Oliver said, his voice getting closer as he rushed across the room to his side. 

"Oliver," Tommy groggily acknowledged, sitting up. 

"Where's your father?" Oliver asked. 

"Oh," Tommy groaned. "I don't know."

Digg spotted a gap in the wall and called out, "Oliver." 

"We think we found the second device. I told Detective Lance to take the one near your mom's clinic. You can take the one near Wells Street." 

"Are you going to kill him?" Tommy asked. 

Oliver couldn't meet his eyes. He kissed Tommy soundly before helping him to his feet. "Go; be safe."

Tommy activated his comm as he left, afraid of which man would survive the ensuing fight and wondering how he would cope with the loss of either one.

"Felicity, I'm on my way to the Wells Street station," Tommy reported.

"Looks like a false wall," he heard Digg say. 

A shiver ran down Tommy's spine at the maniacal glee in his father's voice as he said, "Welcome, gentlemen. I've been waiting for you. I wanted to see you watch your city die." 

"Where's the transmitter?" Oliver demanded in his Hood voice. 

"Somewhere I can easily get to it," Merlyn gloated. 

"I doubt it. You'll be too dead," Digg taunted. 

Tommy heard sounds of fighting - gunshots and arrows being released. 

"Aaah!" Digg groaned in pain and called to Oliver, "Stairs. Go, go."

"So tell me--" Merlyn asked, "are you ready to die?"

Tommy idly wondered if his father would be so gung ho to kill Oliver if he'd told him about their relationship. Would that make him want to kill Oliver more or less? Tommy decided he didn't want to know. 

Felicity's voice came over the comm. "You found it yet, Detective?" 

"Not exactly sure what I'm looking for," Detective Lance admitted. 

"Do you want me to describe it to you?" Felicity offered. 

"No, I've got it," Lance said a few seconds later.

"You should see something that looks like a circuit board. Pull it out. Do you see a timer?" Felicity asked. 

"Seven minutes," Lance reported. 

Tommy accelerated towards the Glades, hoping he'd get there and be able to locate the device in time. At least he knew what it looked like from having reviewed the schematics with Felicity earlier.

Felicity audibly took a deep breath. "Ok. Well, the good news is, this is going to be a paperweight in three."

She must have muted the line to Lance as she asked, "Tommy, you getting all this? Where are you?"

"I can hear it all. Seven minutes and counting," he said. "Just pulled up outside the station, heading down now." Tommy threw the car into park and rushed to the boarded up entrance to the subway station. Luckily, enough homeless people had been using it as shelter that he was able to get in quickly and he headed down the track in the direction they'd guessed the device would be.

Having looped Lance back in, Felicity said, "There are three wires-- you need a green one, a yellow and one blue. Cut the blue." 

"All right, I got it, I got it," Lance triumphantly bellowed. Then they heard loud beeping and whirring. "Oh, my God. No, no, no, no, no!" 

"There must be some sort of anti-tamper safeguard," Felicity guessed. "Hold on. I'm going to try to figure out how to override it." 

"Not enough time. There's not enough time!" 

"Just hold on!" Felicity practically yelled.

Tommy found his device just where they'd thought it would be and quickly located the control panel. 

"Felicity, I'm here and I've got the control panel open. What should I do instead of cutting the blue wire?" Tommy demanded.

"Thank goodness," Felicity said. "I've almost figured it out. Just, keep listening and do what I tell Lance to do." 

"Detective Lance?" Felicity called, getting his attention. "I need you to listen to me very carefully." 

Tommy did what Felicity instructed, breathing a sigh of relief when the device powered down. 

They'd won.

Now that his part was done, Tommy allowed himself to tune in to the fight between his father and Oliver as he made his way back to the Foundry.

Malcolm was saying, "Don't struggle. It's over. There was never any doubt in the outcome. Don't worry. Your mother and sister will be joining you in death." 

What? Tommy couldn't believe his ears. After killing Oliver, his father was planning on killing Moira and Thea? With a weight settling low in his gut, Tommy knew that regardless of the outcome of this fight, Malcolm Merlyn would never be his father again. His father was dead; probably had been since his mother was killed.

There was a gasp of pain, several of them in fact, and then Oliver said, "Thank you for teaching me what I'm fighting for. But my father taught me how." 

Felicity's voice cut in. "Oliver, they did it." Tommy realized she must have had them muted from Oliver and Digg so as not to distract them during the fight.

"It's over," Oliver said to Malcolm.

Malcolm panted in pain. "If I've learned anything as a successful businessman, it's," he coughed, "redundancy." 

Tommy could almost hear the smile in Oliver's voice as he said, "I know."

Malcolm howled with rage, "No!" as he must have tried to remotely activate the second device, only to have nothing happen.

There was the satisfying sound of a punch before Oliver said, "We're done here. He's out cold. Felicity, can you make the call?"

"Still got him on the line," she said before speaking directly to Lance. "Detective, if it's not too much trouble, can you stop by the roof of Merlyn Global on your way back to the precinct? I have it on good authority that you'll find Malcolm Merlyn up there, unconscious."

"I don't wanna know how you know that, but I'm on my way," Lance said.

"I'll hang around until Lance gets here," Digg offered.

"You need a hospital," Oliver protested.

"You're one to talk," Digg countered, coughing. "I'll get to one; just as soon as I make sure Merlyn doesn't wake up and run off before Lance arrives."

"Stay hidden," Oliver conceded. To the others, he said, "I'm coming home."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Felicity was setting out the first aid supplies when Tommy returned to the basement. He ran over to her and lifted her up. "We did it!" he shouted, spinning her in circles as she squealed and yelled at him to put her down.

"I can't believe we actually stopped him," Tommy said, setting Felicity back on her feet and moving away from her slapping hands.

Felicity stopped and beamed at him. "I know what you mean," she said. "It hardly feels real."

"Oh, it feels pretty real to me," Oliver said, limping over to them.

Tommy pulled Oliver into a tight hug, causing Oliver to grunt in pain, but he hugged Tommy back just as tight. When they didn't let go right away, Felicity threw her arms around Oliver from behind, her fingers resting against Tommy's sides. Oliver turned his head to look back at Felicity and smiled.

"Okay guys, that's enough," Oliver said after another minute, trying not to squirm.

As they pulled back, Tommy and Felicity noticed blood stains on their shirts, which must have come from Oliver. Simultaneously, they said, "You're bleeding!"

"I know," Oliver grunted, sitting heavily on the medical table. 

Tommy and Felicity both started to reach for Oliver's jacket zipper and Felicity quickly stepped back, realizing that it was probably Tommy's place to remove Oliver's clothes, more so than hers. Instead, she brought the supplies closer so they could clean whatever wounds Oliver's jacket was hiding.

They both helped to ease the leather down Oliver's arms and Felicity grabbed the scissors to cut the t-shirt from his body when she saw just how much blood there was. 

"Oliver, what happened?" she screeched, realizing there were matching holes on either side of his body.

"Merlyn had me in a headlock and was choking me. It was the only way to stop him," he said.

Felicity looked horrified by the implication; a look that Tommy was sure matched his own. "Don't tell me that you stabbed yourself with an arrow to get to him," he said in disbelief.

Oliver hung his head.

"Why would you do that?" Tommy asked, aghast.

"I told you, it was the only way to stop him," Oliver said. He grunted as they pulled the damaged shirt from his body.

"You're going to need stitches," Felicity said, "and sadly, you're stuck with me doing them."

"I'm sure you'll do fine," Oliver said, wrapping his hands around the edge of the table, bracing himself for the sting of the antiseptic.

Tommy began to wipe away the blood on Oliver's chest while Felicity did the same on his back. Tommy's fingers trembled slightly as he worked, hating seeing the evidence of how close he'd come to losing Oliver, by his own hand.

Once all of the dried blood was gone, Tommy set aside the antiseptic, nearly dropping everything his hands were shaking so badly. Felicity looked up and he saw silent tears sliding down her cheeks.

"Come here," Tommy said to her, holding open her arms.

Felicity shook her head no, but then circled the table and stepped into his embrace, choking out a sob.

Oliver watched them, confused. "Why are you crying, Felicity?"

"You could have died," she sobbed, turning her head so that she faced Oliver, her cheek pressed to Tommy's chest.

"But I didn't," Oliver pointed out. "I'm right here."

"If that arrow had been one inch to the left you wouldn't be," Tommy countered.

"I knew that," Oliver said. "I didn't do this recklessly. I knew exactly where to put that arrow so that it wouldn't hit anything important on me and still damage him."

"You stabbed yourself with an arrow!" Tommy yelled, startling Felicity. "Sorry," he apologized to her quietly as she stepped back.

"I had to stop him," Oliver said, again.

"And you couldn't get him in the shoulder behind you, or in the eye?" Tommy pressed. "Killing yourself-- Fine, injuring yourself, is not okay when trying to stop the bad guy. Not when there are other options."

"You weren't there," Oliver spat. "I didn't have time to think of other options. I thought of this one and it worked."

"We need to work on how you process your options," Tommy said with less heat.

"You're not disposable," Felicity added. "You're not alone anymore. You have people that care about you; who care if you're hurt."

Oliver met Tommy's eyes and at Tommy's nod, Oliver reached for Felicity, pulling her between his legs. Tommy stepped closer too, but not so close as to make Felicity feel trapped between them.

"Tommy keeps trying to tell me that," Oliver admitted. "I'm not learning that lesson as quickly as he would like."

"No, you're not," Tommy said, affectionately.

"I'm glad you're one of the people that cares about me," Oliver said, quietly, looking into Felicity's eyes.

Her breath caught and she looked askance at Tommy, biting her bottom lip. "Of course I care about you," she said, nervously. "You're my friend."

"Just a friend?" Oliver asked, resting a hand on her hip, causing her to jump, but he pulled her even closer.

"O-Of course, just a friend. You're with Tommy," Felicity stuttered. 

Tommy could tell she was completely confused by the situation, but she'd understand soon enough.

"What if I wasn't?" Oliver asked, trying to keep her attention on him. 

"But you are," she said. 

"What if I wasn't _just_ with him?" Oliver asked.

"I don't understand what you're asking," Felicity whimpered. 

Finally having the opening he needed, Oliver leaned forward and kissed her. She didn't react, at first, and then she melted into the kiss. Until she suddenly pulled away.

"No, wait," she panted. She looked at Tommy, who was standing very close to them now. "Don't be mad at me."

"Why would I be mad at you?" Tommy asked, laughing. 

Before Felicity could answer, he closed the distance between them and kissed her. She responded much faster to his kiss before once again pulling away.

"I'm very, very confused," she said, stumbling to her chair and collapsing into it.

"I'm sure you are," Oliver said. "And we want to explain it to you, but do you think you can finish patching me up first? Then we can all go back to Tommy's apartment to… talk."

"Oh, God," Felicity sprung up. "You still have gaping wounds!"

She hurried back to the table and started to clean the hole on his back of the new blood before she began to suture him. 

"Do you want any painkillers while she does that?" Tommy asked Oliver, seeing him grimace in pain as she stitched him up.

"No," Oliver ground out. "I don't like them."

"Let me distract you, then," Tommy offered. He stepped up to Oliver with one hand on the back of his neck and pulled him into a passionate kiss.

Unfortunately, the kiss had the side effect of distracting Felicity too, who stood gaping at them over Oliver's shoulder. "Wow, that's hot," she mumbled to herself.

Tommy pulled away, laughing. He met Oliver's eyes and knew their conversation with Felicity was going to have the outcome they wanted.

"Sorry," he apologized. "I guess I better stop being a distraction so we can get this over with."

Oliver caught his hand and kept him close. "Never apologize for kissing me like that."

"Except for when someone is trying to stitch one of you up," Felicity added, taping gauze over the stitches on Oliver's back.

Tommy moved to the side so Felicity could work on the chest wound, his thumb moving over the back of Oliver's hand while she worked. 

As she finished and covered the stitches on that side, she stepped back and asked, "Anything else we need to worry about?"

"That's the worst of it," Oliver said. "The rest is just bruising."

Tommy handed Oliver the hoodie they'd left out and he slipped it on, carefully.

While Felicity was clearing away the med supplies, Tommy quietly asked, "Are you sure you're up for this conversation tonight? Maybe we should wait until you're feeling less like a giant bruise."

Oliver looked at Felicity's fussing with the supplies and met Tommy's eyes. "No, I want to do this now. We can be creative if we need to, but I think we all need this tonight."

Tommy looked at Felicity too and found himself agreeing. "Yeah, I think you're right."

Oliver slowly got off the table and moved closer to Felicity. "Are you ready to go?"

"You were serious?" she asked, surprised. "You want me to go with you?"

"Of course we were serious," Tommy said. "Come on. I have wine. We'll have a drink to stopping the Undertaking and we'll finish that conversation."

Felicity blushed and found herself saying, "Okay, count me in."

~~*~~

Felicity insisted on driving herself to Tommy's apartment. Tommy assumed it was so that she wouldn't feel trapped there if her nerves got the better of her. Or so that she could try to work out what was going on, on her own.

Oliver took the time to call Thea while Tommy drove. From what Tommy gathered, Thea had gone to Roy after Moira was arrested following her press conference. After she found him, he'd insisted on helping people out of a car accident created by the mad rush to get out of the Glades and sent Thea off without him. Thea had rushed off the phone to go find Roy again when Oliver told her that he'd heard that the Hood had prevented the devices from going off and the Glades were safe now.

"Did you want to go see your mother at the police station tonight?" Tommy asked, even though they were nearly to his place.

"No," Oliver admitted. "I'll go tomorrow. Tonight I just want to be with you and Felicity."

Tommy pulled into the garage under his apartment building and found his spot. He and Oliver went up to the lobby to wait for Felicity to park on the street and join them. They didn't have to wait long, although it was longer than they thought it should take since they'd seen several open spots when they'd driven past.

"I was starting to think you'd changed your mind," Tommy teased as they headed to the elevators.

"I did. Several times," Felicity admitted. "But I could really use a drink and I'm all out of wine, so here I am."

"So you're just using me for my alcohol," Tommy pouted as they got on the elevator and he pushed the button for his floor. "I'll try to not get too offended."

Fiddling with her purse strap, Felicity said, "I also talked to Digg."

"How is he?" Oliver asked.

"He's going to be fine," Felicity said. "He said that he saw Lance drag Merlyn away in handcuffs before he got himself to a hospital. They stitched him up and he's going to spend a few days with Carly while recuperating."

"Good," Oliver sighed. "That's good. I'll give him a call tomorrow."

The elevator dinged and the doors opened on Tommy's floor. Oliver guided Felicity towards Tommy's apartment and they followed him in after he opened the door.

Tommy hung up their coats and suggested that Oliver and Felicity head into the living room and he'd get their drinks.

He opened a new bottle of Pinot Noir and filled a glass for Felicity. Then he poured a couple fingers of scotch into glasses for himself and Oliver.

He stifled a laugh as he entered the living room to find both Oliver and Felicity sitting on the sofa - Felicity stiffly pressed against one end while Oliver slouched in the middle, leaving a space for Tommy on his other side. 

Tommy handed Felicity her glass first, which she took with a mumbled thanks as she immediately took a long drink.

"Do you want me to bring the bottle?" he teased, seeing nearly half the contents were already gone.

"No, that's not necessary," Felicity said, blushing and visibly forcing herself to relax.

Tommy handed Oliver his glass and finally sat down, stretching his arm out behind Oliver.

After another, shorter, sip, Felicity sighed and asked, "What am I doing here?"

"You're having a drink with friends," Oliver said. He raised his glass. "To stopping the Undertaking."

"To stopping my dad," Tommy toasted, raising his glass next to Oliver's.

They looked expectantly to Felicity. She clinked her glass against theirs. "To the team."

They each took another drink.

"That's not the only reason you invited me up here," Felicity pressed. "What was that in the basement? You both… Why did both of you kiss me?"

"You have to know that we find you attractive," Oliver said, reaching out to touch her shoulder, but wincing when the action pulled his stitches. "Do you think you could not sit so far away?"

"Oh, sorry," Felicity immediately apologized and moved closer. "And that still doesn't answer why you kissed me when you two are together."

Tommy moved to sit on the coffee table in front of Felicity. He set her wine glass on the table beside him and took one of her hands in his, and Oliver took her other hand. "How much of our relationship histories do you actually know about?" Tommy asked.

Felicity looked confused, but answered. "Mostly just what I saw on newsstands and on the internet. I didn't move to Starling City until after college, so I've only seen what's gone on the last couple of years. I know more about Oliver's past because I did some research on him after he started asking me to do all those weird favors for him, so I know that he used to sleep around with a lot of different women. And of course I know about the Lance sisters. I'm not sure what you're getting at."

"What you didn't read about," Oliver said, "is that back in the day, I wasn't just sleeping around with a lot of women. Tommy and I used to hook up back then, too. Usually with woman because we were too afraid to just admit that we wanted to be together."

Tommy picked up the narrative. "When we decided to give a real relationship a chance, we both acknowledged that sometimes we're still going to want to be with a woman."

"We want you to be that woman," Oliver finished.

Felicity dropped Tommy's hand to grab her wine, finishing it off, before handing the empty glass back to Tommy, who dutifully set it aside. With her hand free once again, she ran it over her hair. 

"So let me get this straight," she said, looking like she wanted to get up to pace, but remained seated. "You want me to be part of some kind of ménage a trois?"

"Not permanently," Tommy said. 

"We're not looking for a third person in our relationship," Oliver added. "We'd just sometimes like to have sex with you. You'd still be able to date other people."

"It'd be like friends with benefits, only two of those friends are in a relationship together," Tommy offered.

"And you both want to sleep with me? Like at the same time?" she asked, blushing deeply and glancing between them.

"Yes, we both would love to sleep with you; and it can be however you feel comfortable doing it," Tommy said. 

"I've never been with two people at once, before," she admitted. 

"Is that something you think you'd be interested in?" Oliver asked. "With us?"

Felicity boldly ran her eyes over both of them, and Tommy felt like his skin would go up in flames from the heat in her eyes. She licked her bottom lip and nodded her head.

Breathily, she said, "Yeah, I think I'd really like that."

That was all they needed to hear.

Oliver slid his hand from hers and drew it up her arm to her elbow, using it to pull her closer as he leaned into her. Felicity met his lips in an eager kiss, her hand dropping onto Oliver's thigh. Tommy moved to sit on the armrest behind Felicity's turned back and began to kiss and nibble at her neck. She startled at the first touch of his lips, but then turned her full attention back to Oliver's kiss.

Oliver grunted in pain when he tried to press closer to Felicity and they all broke apart.

"Maybe we shouldn't do this now," Felicity suggested, breathing heavily.

"No," Oliver protested. "I'll be fine. Just... maybe we should move into the bedroom."

Tommy came around to help Oliver stand, and kept his arm around him as he led them to his bedroom. 

Oliver tried to protest, "I'm fine."

"Humor me," Tommy insisted, kissing his neck. Tommy reached his free hand behind him for Felicity. He breathed an internal sigh of relief when she took it.

Oliver turned the light on as they entered the bedroom and proceeded to sit on the bed. Tommy let him go, turning to Felicity and capturing her lips. He wrapped one arm behind her back and the other went to the back of her neck, holding her close. Her arms slid around his neck and into his hair and she kissed him back just as fervently as she'd kissed Oliver. 

He'd been afraid that she wouldn't actually be interested in being with him, that she was only there for Oliver, but he was very happy that that didn't seem to be the case.

Tommy was so lost in the kiss that he startled when he felt Oliver slide his hand from Felicity's back to under her sweater, which he then proceeded to remove. Tommy reached out with the hand that had been on Felicity's neck to grab Oliver's hip, surprised to find leather under his hand, having forgotten that they'd only removed his jacket in the lair before leaving. The sweatshirt appeared to be gone, though.

Felicity seemed to sense his distraction and ran her tongue along the roof of his mouth to get his attention back on her. He ran his hand down her back and squeezed her ass, pulling her against his growing hardness to show that he hadn't forgotten about her.

Oliver slid the zipper down the back of her dress, trailing kisses along her neck and shoulder as he slid the material down her body until she was left in just her bra and panties - a simple set of black satin. 

Pressing against Felicity's back, Oliver then reached around her to begin unbuttoning Tommy's shirt. When she realized what he was doing, she joined him, breaking their kiss when she started giggling as she and Oliver fought over undressing Tommy until they finally rid him of the shirt completely and then moved to get him out of his pants. 

Once down to his boxers, Tommy took a step back and allowed himself a moment to appreciate the view of Felicity in her underwear leaning back against Oliver in just his green leather pants. If he hadn't been hard already, that sight alone would have gotten him there. He had thought they'd look beautiful together, and he was right.

Oliver turned Felicity to face him and removed her glasses, handing them to Tommy before kissing her again.

Tommy set the glasses on his night table, and took a moment to get out the condoms and lube while he was there, ready for however the night would play out.

He circled behind Oliver, his hands running around his body to get to the front of his pants. After giving Oliver's erection a quick squeeze, he unfastened his pants, carefully sliding the zipper down and then removing the pants completely, helping him to step out of them. Once Oliver was left in his underwear, Tommy moved back to Felicity to remove her bra. 

While she and Oliver continued to kiss, Tommy lightly drew his fingers up her sides until he could palm her breasts. She moaned in the kiss, pressing into his hands. Tommy's mouth dropped to her neck, finding a sensitive spot behind her ear as his fingers rolled and plucked her nipples to fine points. 

Oliver eased one of the hands that had been cupping Felicity's face up through her hair and continued farther back until his fingers were buried in Tommy's hair.

Tommy released one of Felicity's breasts and traced patterns down her torso and over her panties until he could cup her sex in his hand. He groaned at the damp heat he found there. His hand moved back up so that he could slide under the material. 

Felicity bucked her hips as one finger ran teasingly between her folds, causing her to finally break her kiss with Oliver. Her hands gripped Oliver's biceps as she relaxed back against Tommy's body as he continued to tease her lightly. 

"Tommy," she begged, rolling her hips, trying to get the pressure she needed.

Tommy looked up and saw Oliver sway slightly from standing for so long and raised a worried eyebrow. Oliver jerked his head towards the bed before he moved to sit. 

Brushing his finger against her clit, Tommy whispered in her ear, "I need you to walk two steps left and one forward."

"Are you kidding me? You expect me to walk right now?" Felicity whimpered. She opened her eyes and saw Oliver sitting on the bed, naked, hungrily watching them. "Oh."

With Tommy's help, they managed to make it over to Oliver, who immediately removed her panties, giving Tommy more room to work with, and took one of her breasts into his mouth. 

Felicity keened, leaning forward to get closer to Oliver while grinding her ass against Tommy. 

Tommy nearly lost control, wanting nothing more than to slide his dick into her right then, but he pushed his raw desire down, knowing Oliver needed her first. Not just because of their connection, but Tommy also didn't think Oliver was going to last much longer. 

Adjusting Felicity's stance, Tommy slipped one finger inside her, his thumb moving to her clit, determined to get her off before they moved on to the next round. 

Wanting to tease her breasts again, Tommy pushed his free hand against Oliver's head as Oliver was currently sucking on the only breast Tommy could reach. Oliver grunted in annoyance, but willingly switched breasts. 

In retaliation, Oliver slid both arms around Felicity and found the opening to Tommy's boxers, sliding one hand inside to begin stroking his very hard cock, causing Tommy to jerk in surprise. The action caused a second finger to slip inside Felicity, who groaned at the additional fullness. Tommy gave a hard flick of his thumb against her clit as Oliver bit down on her nipple and Felicity flew apart between them. 

Felicity sank down until she was straddling Oliver's thighs, kissing him lazily. She reached out behind her to grab Tommy's hand and pulled him around so that she could kiss him too. Tommy pulled her back to her feet and was vaguely aware of Oliver moving to grab a condom and put it on. He ended the kiss and pushed Felicity back towards the bed. 

She stared for a long moment, taking in the sight of Oliver kneeling on the bed wearing only a condom. Tommy stared right along with her, wishing he was the one Oliver was waiting for. He soothed his jealousy by remembering that most nights, he would be the one Oliver was waiting for.

Tommy pulled off his boxers and moved to sit on the bed, leaning against the headboard as he watched Felicity crawl onto the bed and over to Oliver. 

"H-how do you want to do this?" she asked, her voice cracking from lust, not nervousness, Tommy was happy to notice.

"Tommy, move to the middle of the bed but stay sitting like that," Oliver instructed. Tommy raised an eyebrow, having been prepared to sit back and watch, but apparently Oliver had other ideas. Ones he was not going to complain about.

"Felicity, kneel between his legs," Oliver continued.

Licking her lips, Felicity crawled on hands and knees between Tommy's spread legs, her eyes reflecting the hunger Tommy felt in every nerve of his body.

Felicity turned her head to look back at Oliver over her shoulder as he moved into position behind her. He leaned over her back, laying kisses along her spine, causing her head to drop, until he reached her ass, which he squeezed once before leaning up and positioning himself at her entrance. 

Oliver held Tommy's eyes as he slowly began to press inside Felicity. His eyes were saying that even though he was fucking Felicity, he was still all Tommy's. Tommy reached for Oliver's right hand, holding tight to say that he felt the same.

Oblivious to their silent conversation, Felicity hissed, "Yes," and pressed back against Oliver, causing him to enter her more fully. Oliver slowly pulled back before entering her faster than before.

Tommy's free hand unconsciously reached for his cock, stroking lightly to the action happening above him. Felicity saw him stroking himself and leaned forward to take his cock in her mouth. Tommy groaned at the sudden warmth and wetness surrounding his aching cock, his hand tightening around Oliver's.

When Tommy was able to refocus on Oliver, he could see that the other man was close to the edge, already. He was pounding into Felicity fast and deep. Tommy was benefiting from the brutal pace, which was dictating the motions of Felicity's mouth around his cock.

"Touch yourself, Felicity," Tommy hissed. She looked up at him through her eyelashes and he nodded his head towards Oliver.

She reluctantly released him and looked back at Oliver, who was straining to prolong the inevitable. She returned her attention to Tommy's cock, licking him from base to tip before sliding one of her hands between her legs to feel Oliver entering her before focusing on her clit. 

With a look of apology sent to Tommy, Felicity sat up, changing the angle that Oliver was penetrating her, until her back was pressed against his chest.

Oliver groaned and shuddered at the change of position, Tommy's hand the only thing keeping him from falling over.

"You can let go, Oliver," Felicity said, turning her head to kiss his neck. 

"Not yet," Oliver grunted through clenched teeth. "You haven't come."

"T-Tommy can take care of me," Felicity said. "I'm close, but you're closer. Don't hold back on my account."

Tommy slid across to them and rose to his knees, pressing against Felicity as he pulled Oliver's mouth to his. He was vaguely aware of Felicity's mouth against his neck as Oliver's tongue invaded his mouth. Felicity wrapped both arms around Tommy's back, no longer rushing to get off before Oliver. Her body was pressed into Tommy's, rubbing against his aching cock, with every ragged thrust Oliver made into her.

It didn't take long for Oliver to lose the last of his control and with a roar he jerked and came, collapsing against Felicity's back. For which she was grateful that she was leaning against Tommy.

When Oliver was still panting heavily against her neck after nearly a minute, Felicity began to shift uncomfortably. "Okay, move, you're heavy," she complained, reaching awkwardly behind her to slap at Oliver's ass.

He made a sound halfway between a laugh and a grumble, but slowly sat back on his heels, withdrawing from her as he moved. He turned and managed to collapse on his right side, thoroughly exhausted. 

Still pressed together, Felicity met Tommy's eyes. "Hi," she breathily said, rolling her hips against him. 

Tommy captured her mouth in a heated kiss, his tongue plunging into her mouth. She squealed in delight as Tommy turned them so that Felicity was now lying on her back on the bed, next to Oliver.

He broke the kiss to reach for a condom, taking Oliver's discarded one to toss in the trash beneath the nightstand. When he returned to Felicity, fully sheathed, she was lazily kissing Oliver. Rolling back on top of her, Tommy easily slid inside her.

Felicity sighed happily, wrapping her legs around Tommy's hips as he stoked the fire back to life inside her.

Tommy lay over her so that every inch of skin was pressed together from chest to hip as he moved steadily. He shuddered when he felt Oliver run his hand down his back to rest against his ass, proceeding to gently knead his flesh.

Felicity rocked against him, using her legs to pull him into her harder. Her mouth captured his, whimpering needily.

Tommy managed to get a hand between them and pressed against Felicity's clit. She keened and dug her nails into Tommy's back, encouraging him to increase his pace even more. 

Feeling Oliver's hair against his chest, Tommy leaned back enough so that Oliver could capture one of Felicity's nipples in his mouth. The additional sensation sent her straight over the edge as she tightened around Tommy, babbling incoherently as wave after wave of pleasure rolled through her.

As Tommy began to move inside her again, he suddenly found himself on his back next to Felicity with Oliver draped across her legs and his mouth wrapped around his cock. 

"Shit, Oliver," Tommy cried out. Oliver pulled back only long enough to pull off the condom before taking Tommy fully into his mouth again, both of them groaning at the sensation. After everything that had happened tonight, Tommy couldn't hold out any longer and with his hands buried in Oliver's hair, he came in Oliver's mouth, before collapsing back on the bed. 

They lay like that for several minutes, all basking in the afterglow, until Felicity began to shift restlessly. With a groan, Oliver pulled his head from Tommy's hip and off of Felicity's legs to lie beside her.

"I should probably go," she hesitantly said, moving to sit up.

"Stay," Oliver quietly requested, a hand landing on her hip.

"Please," Tommy agreed.

Smiling, Felicity nodded. 

Tommy stood and encouraged everyone up so that they could get under the covers. Oliver got in the bed first, lying in the center on his uninjured side. Felicity spooned in front of him while Tommy did the same from behind. They soon all drifted into an exhausted, well-earned, sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Felicity was gone when they woke late the next morning. Something they were not all that surprised about, but it was a little disappointing.

Oliver had rolled onto his back during the night and Tommy woke pressed against his side.

"How do you feel?" Tommy asked, his fingers toying with the edge of the bandage of Oliver's chest.

"Sore. Exhausted. Happy." The last Oliver said turning a brilliant smile towards Tommy. "We saved the city," he whispered in near-disbelief.

Tommy smiled back and leaned up to kiss him. "That we did."

"A part of me didn't really think we could do it," Oliver admitted, running his hands over Tommy's side and back. "Especially once we realized we were fighting your father."

"I know what you mean," Tommy agreed. "I never realized just how crazy he had become. I'm glad he's not going to be able to hurt anyone else ever again."

Oliver pulled Tommy closer until he could kiss him, chasing thoughts of his father away.

Oliver sighed. "As much as I would love to stay in this bed all day with you, we should probably go to the police station."

Tommy tensed. "I don't want to see him."

"You don't have to," Oliver soothed. "But I do need to see my mother. I need to make sure she's okay." Dipping his head until their lips nearly touched, Oliver added, "I also want to tell her about us."

"Yeah?" Tommy breathily asked.

"Yeah," Oliver confirmed, closing the remaining distance between them for a slow, sweet kiss.

Oliver started to roll towards Tommy, but grunted in pain and collapsed back onto this back. 

"Sorry," he apologized. "Guess I'm not quite up for more."

"I knew we should have delayed last night," Tommy said, concerned that Oliver had pushed himself too much.

"I'm glad we didn't," Oliver said. "Last night was good. It was important."

"I still wish she'd stuck around until morning," Tommy said. "I'm worried about what she's thinking today."

"We can check in with her later," Oliver promised. "But for now, I suppose we should probably shower and get to the precinct."

"If we must," Tommy sighed and rolled out of bed.

They showered together, Tommy helping to wash Oliver's hair since he didn't quite have full range of motion in his left arm. They were both hard, but ignored their arousal in order to take care of business.

Once they were clean, Tommy changed Oliver's bandages and helped him to dress in a blue button down shirt, opting for a t-shirt and sweater himself.

Oliver called Thea while they were eating a quick breakfast. He put her on speaker, so Tommy could talk to her too.

"Hello?" Thea groggily answered just before the call went to voicemail.

"Hey, Speedy," Oliver said. "Did I wake you?"

"Maybe a little," Thea responded. "We got to bed kind of late last night. It was crazy out there."

"You're in the Glades?" Tommy demanded.

"Yes, Mom, I'm with Roy," Thea said, voice laced with sarcasm. 

"That's actually why I called you," Oliver broke in. "Tommy and I are going to see Mom at the police station this morning. I wanted to see if you wanted to meet us there."

There was a long pause on the other end before Thea said, "I can't see her right now."

"She's going to want to see that you're safe," Oliver pressed.

"If she wanted me to be safe then she shouldn't have tried to destroy the Glades," Thea fumed. "Have you even been home or looked at the news? I guess not or you wouldn't have said that." Oliver looked at Tommy, who turned the television on and to a local news channel. There were images of reporters camped outside the Queen and Merlyn mansions. 

"I'm sorry," Oliver sighed. "I stayed at Tommy's last night and we didn't have the news on. I guess we were in denial."

"How are you dealing with all this, Tommy?" Thea asked. 

"I'm actually okay. I'd mostly written my father off a while ago. This just put the final nail in the coffin. From now on, consider me an orphan," Tommy said, trying for his usual joviality, but falling short.

"Good for you," Thea said. "You could say the same for me."

"Thea, don't say that," Oliver growled in horror. "You have a mother that loves you very much."

"I have a mother who was willing to look the other way while Malcolm Merlyn wiped out everyone in the Glades, including my boyfriend," Thea coldly retorted. "I'm not talking to her ever again."

"You're just upset," Oliver insisted.

"I'm done with lies," Thea said. "I'm not going to go see her and pretend that everything is fine when it's not. I hate her for this, Ollie, and there's nothing you can do about that."

"If you don't come, then you won't get to be there when I tell Mom about Tommy and me," Oliver said in a last ditch effort.

"Nice try, big brother," Thea said. "You're just going to have to do it without me. You can tell me all about it later."

"It's a deal," Oliver said, relief showing on his face that at least she wasn't cutting him out of her life too. "We better get going. Don't spend all day in bed."

They could practically hear her rolling her eyes through the phone. "Whatever. Bye."

"She'll come around," Tommy insisted, once the call had ended. 

Oliver shook his head. "I want to believe that, but I also know that you'll never forgive your father. Your situations aren't that different."

"But they are," Tommy countered. "My dad is guilty of so many sins, but your mom is only guilty of being blackmailed into helping him. She also exposed him in the end. That's gotta count for something."

"Thea doesn't see it that way," Oliver protested.

"Thea's too close to it right now," Tommy said. "Once she calms down, she'll want her mom again."

"I hope you're right," Oliver said.

Tommy dropped a kiss to his lips. "I usually am. C'mon, let's get this over with."

~~*~~

They had barely entered the bullpen when they heard Lance's voice. "I was wondering when you two were going to show up."

He did not sound happy to see them.

"We're here to see my mother," Oliver said, ignoring the tone.

"That's just as well, as she's the only one allowed visitors. Wait here," Lance said.

Once Lance was out of earshot, Tommy nervously asked, "Do you think Laurel told him about us?"

"I don't think so," Oliver said. "He would have been a lot angrier if he knew."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Tommy agreed.

Lance came back a minute later and led them to one of the interrogation rooms. "You've got 10 minutes."

Moira was seated at a table inside, in a horrible orange jumpsuit, devoid of make-up. One wrist was cuffed to the table.

"Is that really necessary?" Oliver demanded, turning to Lance.

"She conspired to kill hundreds of people. Yes, it's necessary," Lance answered. He stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Oliver and Tommy sat at the table and Oliver immediately reached out to cover her hands with his.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Her fingers wrapped around his as she said, "I'm fine. My lawyer thinks that I won't have to serve any real jail time since the Undertaking was stopped. Also, I have my own cell - more to keep people who may wish to harm me away than to give me any preferential treatment. But I'll take what I can get."

"That was very brave, what you did," Tommy said. 

Moira shook her head. "It wasn't brave. If the Vigilante hadn't stopped Malcolm, it would have been too little, too late. We're all lucky that he was able to stop it in time."

Moira was looking at Oliver as she said this. Did she know Oliver was the Hood?

"Have you talked to Thea?" she asked.

Oliver nodded. "She's fine. She's with her friend Roy."

"I think we all know they're more than friends," Moira said.

That was an opening if Tommy ever heard one. Oliver thought so, too. 

Oliver reached over and intertwined his fingers with Tommy's. "So are we."

Moira settled back in her chair and smiled knowingly. "I was wondering how long it would take you to get together after Oliver returned home."

Both men looked at her in shock. Did everyone know about them before they did?

"H-how did you know?" Tommy asked, speaking first.

"I've known you both your whole lives. I know what you look like in and out of love. It was clear as day to anyone who cared to look to see how you two felt about one another."

"And you're not upset that we're both men?" Oliver asked, nervously. "I-I always thought that Dad would disown me if he knew how I felt about Tommy."

"I'm sure your father would have been surprised, given your dating histories, but he would have come around. All we ever wanted was for you to be happy. Both of you." Moira turned her free hand palm up and looked at Tommy. He gratefully covered it with his own.

"Thank you," he whispered, his eyes filling with tears. This was the acceptance he would never have found with his father. He liked to think that had his mother lived, she would have accepted his relationship with Oliver in such a manner, but he would never know.

"Yes, thank you," Oliver repeated, his own voice thick with emotion.

Lance burst into the room, causing Oliver and Tommy to release their hands, and towering over Tommy, demanded, "Where is he?"

"Where is who?" Tommy asked, confused.

"Don't give me that!" Lance snarled, lifting Tommy up by his shirt. "You tell me where you father is."

Oliver stood too, trying to force Lance back. 

Tommy's eyes widened. "I thought he was here. I heard you arrested him last night." He looked back and forth between Oliver and Lance. "Are you telling me that he's not here?"

Lance released Tommy with a shove. "As if you didn't know."

"I didn't," Tommy insisted. "If I never see him again it'll be too soon."

"Where were you last night?" Lance demanded, not ready to give up yet.

"I was at my apartment, with Oliver and Felicity Smoak," Tommy said, hoping Felicity's name would get Lance off his back.

Lance seemed to deflate a bit. Tommy knew that if he'd just said that he'd been with Oliver that Lance wouldn't have relented, but by claiming two alibis, it was more solid. Having dated a lawyer came in handy sometimes.

"If you hear from him, you call me immediately," Lance said, jamming a finger into Tommy's chest.

"I will," Tommy promised.

"Your time's up," Lance said, heading for the door. "Say your goodbyes."

"Wait," Oliver said. Lance looked over his shoulder at him and he continued. "If Malcolm Merlyn has escaped, then my mother needs to be put into protective custody. She's the one who outed him and his plans. He's going to want revenge."

Lance looked like he wanted to argue, but he just nodded once instead. "I'll take care of it."

After he left, Oliver went around the table to awkwardly hug his mother. "We'll get you home soon," he promised.

"Be safe, my darling boy," Moira said, hugging him back.

Tommy bent to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you."

"You've always been family, you know that," she said, squeezing his hand.

~~*~~

As they left the police station, Tommy and Oliver agreed that they should get the team together to discuss this latest development.

They waited until they were in Tommy's car before pulling out their phones. While Oliver called Digg, Tommy called Felicity. He idly noticed that he had several calls and texts from his secretary, but ignored them in favor of finding Felicity in his contacts right away.

"Hey, Tommy, I can't really talk right now," Felicity said when she answered.

"Good morning to you too, Sunshine," Tommy teased.

"Stop flirting, I'm at work," Felicity admonished him.

Shit, it was a work day, wasn't it? Since he still viewed his job at Merlyn Global as a cover, he hadn't even thought about going in now that his father had been taken down. 

"Fuck," he muttered. "Forgot about work."

"You have had a lot on your mind lately," Felicity pointed out. "So if you didn't call to keep me from working, why did you call?"

"Well, we did want to make sure you were okay after last night, but we have a more immediate issue," Tommy said.

Felicity groaned. "Not already? We _just_ got through the last crisis."

"Yeah. Any chance you can meet us for lunch at Big Belly?" Tommy asked.

"Um…"

"Digg will be there too," Tommy cajoled, in case she was nervous about being alone with them for some reason. The first interaction after your first threesome could be a bit uncomfortable.

"Okay, yeah, sure," Felicity said. "I'll be there."

"Great. See you soon," Tommy said and ended the call. Looking at Oliver he said, "She's in."

"Digg too," Oliver said.

"You up for driving?" Tommy asked. 

"Sure," Oliver said. "What's up?"

Tommy waved his phone. "I kinda forgot I have another job. My secretary has been calling all morning. I should probably see what she wants."

They got out of the car and switched sides. 

"Do you want to just swing by the office?" Oliver offered.

Tommy shook his head. "Let me listen to the messages and give her a call first. I'm not really dressed for it right now."

_Danielle 08:30: Saw the news last night. Understand if you're not coming in, but please confirm._

_Danielle 10:00: Board is asking if you're coming in. Please respond._

_Danielle 11:30: Getting worried now. Please respond._

There were voicemails to go along with all of the texts. Tommy felt bad for having had the ringer off since last night and causing her to worry. She was a nice girl and he didn't want her to get into trouble because he forgot about that job.

He called her immediately. "Danielle, I'm so sorry, my phone has been off and I just got all of your messages."

"Mr. Merlyn," she sighed. "Thank goodness you're alright. I was afraid they'd arrested you too, but since I didn't see anything about you on the news I hoped they hadn't. Also, when I called the police station they said they only arrested Mr. Merlyn Senior."

"Danielle, take a breath," Tommy chided her. "And could you please call me Tommy? I don't want you to call me the same thing you call _him_."

"Of course, Mr… Tommy," she agreed. 

"That's better," Tommy said. "Now, what's all this about the Board looking for me?"

"Oh, right!" Danielle exclaimed. "The Board of Directors met this morning following your father's arrest to discuss what to do about the company. As I'm sure you know, the stocks plummeted overnight, what with all of the allegations against Mr. Merlyn."

"And they want to see me because…?" Tommy had a bad feeling about what was coming.

"They didn't say. I was just told to send you to the boardroom as soon as you arrived," Danielle admitted.

Tommy sighed. "Tell them I'll be there soon."

"Yes, sir," Danielle agreed. "I'll see you soon Mr… Tommy."

Tommy hung up and closed his eyes. Without opening them he said, "I guess we need to stop by Merlyn Global after all."

"I figured," Oliver said. "We're two blocks away."

Tommy's eyes popped open and he looked around. Sure enough, they were just a couple of blocks from the office building bearing his name.

"You're the best boyfriend ever," Tommy said. 

"I'd probably be a better one if I didn't let you go in there," Oliver countered. 

"I should at least see what they want," Tommy said, dispassionately. "I may not have really worked there, but I did do the tasks that were assigned to me. Plus, the people who work there didn't know what my dad was up to. They shouldn't suffer because he decided to play God."

"You're a good man," Oliver told him as he pulled up in front of the building. "Do you want me to come up?"

Tommy shook his head. "No, it's probably better if you don't. The Board will be suspicious if the competition's heir showed up to an emergency meeting."

"I'm not the heir to Queen Consolidated," Oliver pointed out.

"Your name is on the building. To them, you are," Tommy said. "Same as me."

"Good luck," Oliver said, squeezing Tommy's hand.

"Thanks, I'll need it. Go on to Big Belly, I'll take a taxi over," Tommy insisted.

"I can wait," Oliver protested.

"Digg and Felicity are on their way. Go fill them in and make sure your team is okay after the fight. I'll be there as soon as I can," Tommy said.

"Alright," Oliver reluctantly agreed and Tommy exited the car.

He turned to face the building and took a deep breath, steeling himself before forcing himself to go in. 

He headed straight for his office. Danielle stood as he approached, relief on her face.

"Thank goodness you're here," she said. Her eyes roamed over his casual clothing and she blurted out, "You can't meet the Board wearing that."

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to," Tommy said. "I didn't want to take the time to go home and change into a suit after we spoke."

Danielle looked guilty as she encouraged Tommy to follow her into his office. "I was hoping to never need this because you've always come to work very professional."

She opened the small closet inside the office and pulled out an elegant navy blue suit, white dress shirt and blue patterned tie.

"Your father had it delivered your first day here," she nervously admitted. "But I wasn't supposed to tell you about it unless you needed it."

"Of course he did," Tommy sighed. Even though he didn't want to be, he was still hurt that his father expected him to not take this job seriously, after everything.

"I'll just give you a moment to change while I inform the Board that you're here," Danielle said, closing the door behind her.

Tommy tried to keep his emotions under control as he changed out of his street clothes and into the suit. He hated himself for even considering donning the suit, let alone doing it. It felt like he was proving his father right, that he couldn't be trusted to do this job.

But that had been the whole point, hadn't it? 

He had only been working there to get close to his dad. He'd been under cover. That had been his real job there. It wasn't to be the Vice President of some bullshit or another. It was so that he could spy on his father. 

And he'd done that.

He'd helped Oliver, Felicity and Digg to break into the company's mainframe and steal information about the earthquake device. He'd stopped his father from destroying the Glades.

He'd done his job.

Tommy slid on the suit jacket and adjusted his tie in the bathroom mirror. He had to admit, his dad had good taste in suits. He looked fantastic. In fact, he decided that he'd wear it to meet up with Oliver and the team because they needed to see him in this suit.

Having regained his confidence, Tommy opened the door and followed Danielle to the Board Room. She opened the door and he stepped inside, the door closing behind him. 

Refusing to let his nerves get the better of him, Tommy moved to the open seat at the head of the table.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Board, I apologize for making you wait. I've been distracted by other things after the events of last night," Tommy said as he took his seat.

"We understand that this must be a difficult time for you," one of the board members said. "Thank you for taking the time to meet with us."

"Of course," Tommy said. He folded his hands in front of him on the table to avoid fidgeting. "May I ask why you wanted to see me?"

"With your father in jail, and the likelihood that he will remain so for a long time, we wanted to discuss with you the matter of who would take over as CEO," another board member said. Tommy thought he was the Chairman.

Tommy remained quiet about his father no longer actually being in police custody. He hoped that he would be caught again soon. But even if he wasn't, he would likely go into hiding far away from here, in a country without extradition.

"I'm sorry," Tommy said, "but what does that have to do with me?"

Some of the Board members looked at each other, curiously.

"Did your father not discuss this with you?" the Chairman asked, confused.

"There was a lot that my father did not discuss with me," Tommy admitted. "I've only been working here for the past few weeks. He hadn't discussed any long-term contingency plans for the company with me. Ever."

"So you did not know that he wished for you to become the next CEO should anything happen to him?" the Chairman pressed.

Tommy's jaw dropped. He knew it was unprofessional, but he couldn't help the involuntary response. "That would be a big no."

"Do you feel that you would be up for the job?" one of the other board members asked.

"I hadn't ever really thought about it," Tommy said. "My father is a young man. I knew that he wanted to groom me to take over for him some day, but I was expecting that to be a couple of decades away. Not now."

There was silence for a few minutes until Tommy asked. "Do you agree with my father's wish to have me succeed him?" Tommy asked.

"No, we do not," the Chairman said. "As you, yourself, pointed out, you have only worked here for a very short time. Not even long enough for a probationary time to be over, were you any other employee. We do not feel that you have the experience to run this company."

"I agree," Tommy said, a weight lifting off his shoulders. "Who else is up for consideration? I know that I wasn't his only choice."

"Simon Vaxel, the Senior Vice President," the Chairman said.

Tommy nodded, having assumed as much. Simon was a good man and knew the company almost as well as his father.

"I wish you luck with him," Tommy said, standing.

"You're not upset?" one of the female board members asked, surprised. "We assumed you'd want to take your rightful place within your company."

Tommy shook his head. "This was never really _my_ company. I managed one of the hottest nightclubs in Starling City. I'm good at that, and it's what I'm going to go back to doing."

"You're quitting?" the Chairman asked.

"I only came to work here to get to know my dad better," Tommy said. "I learned everything that I need to know about him and with him no longer here, I don't feel the need to be either."

Tommy strode from the room, feeling lighter than he had all day.

He stopped by his soon-to-be-former office to say goodbye to Danielle and to pick up the clothes he'd worn in. He didn't have anything personal in the office to take with him, since he'd never planned on using it for long.

He had a smile on his face as he hailed a taxi and was off to see to his real family business.

~~*~~

Upon entering Big Belly Burger, Tommy immediately spotted the team seated at one of the booths off to the side.

Oliver was in the process of lifting a fry to his mouth when he spotted Tommy. His hand froze as he stared hungrily at Tommy, and not for the food that was in his hand. The fry dropped from his fingers and he licked his lips as Tommy approached.

Felicity and Digg turned their heads to see what had Oliver acting so strangely.

"Hot damn," Felicity whispered under her breath.

Tommy tried not to preen under their appreciative glances, but he failed miserably. He slid into the spot next to Oliver and before he could even say anything, Oliver had captured his mouth in a hungry kiss. One which Tommy was happy to return, instantly forgetting about their audience.

"Alright, that's enough," Digg's voice cut in after a minute. While Oliver didn't seem to hear him, or was ignoring him, Tommy knew he was right and pulled back. Much to Oliver's displeasure.

Oliver growled and tried to recapture Tommy's lips, but Tommy pushed him back. 

"Easy tiger, we're not alone," Tommy chided him.

Oliver blinked and glanced across the table, as if surprised to find a blushing Felicity and an awkwardly grinning Digg sitting there. He immediately sat back and apologized. "Uh, sorry."

"I get the feeling that's not what you looked like when you left your apartment this morning," Digg guessed.

"No, it's not," Oliver agreed, his eyes still hungrily running over Tommy beside him. "Where'd you get the suit?"

"Present from my dad," Tommy said, sobering up Oliver, whose eyebrows creased in confusion. 

"How? When?" he asked.

Tommy sighed. "He gave it to my secretary on my first day at Merlyn Global, in case I ever needed it."

"He thought you wouldn't always wear a suit to the office?" Felicity asked in surprise. "Has he not met you? You love suits."

"I guess we'll never know," Tommy said. 

"Maybe he thought you might need a spare? In case the one you were wearing was ruined somehow?" Felicity suggested, ever the optimist. "It happens, you know. I can't even tell you how many times I've needed a spare blouse because I've spilled something on myself."

"Yeah, maybe that's it," Tommy said, glumly. He looked at Oliver. "You told them about what we found out at the police station."

"Yeah, we were just discussing possibilities when you, um, distracted us," Oliver said.

"What did you come up with?" he asked, picking up the burger Oliver had ordered for him and taking a bite.

"Well, we know he has some kind of secret ninja warrior training," Felicity said, munching on a fry. "We're guessing that whomever he trained with broke him out."

Tommy chewed thoughtfully and nodded. "Makes sense. I figure that that's where he went when he abandoned me after my mom died." Oliver squeezed his thigh in comfort.

Digg nodded in agreement. "That's also probably where he'll disappear to. Either back with them or somewhere else to lie low. If he had this whole other secret identity, you can bet that he has properties and bank accounts all over the world under an alias."

"So the question is: do we go after him?" Oliver posed, looking at Tommy. He was obviously leaving the decision up to him.

Tommy wiped his mouth with a napkin and sat back. 

"No, we don't," Tommy finally said. "I'm not saying this because I'm trying to spare his life or anything," he quickly added. "I meant it when I said that I never want to see the bastard again. And it sounds like I won't. He won't come back to Starling. He'll get arrested the second he's recognized, with a handy new breaking-out-of-jail crime added to the list. He's already proven that a jail can't hold him. As long as he's out of my life for good, I'll be happy."

"We thought you might say that," Felicity said, "and we agree that it's not worth our energy to chase him down."

"Thanks," Tommy said. Picking up his burger again, he asked, "So where does this leave you and the list?"

"The list is moot," Oliver said, running a hand through his hair, "but that doesn't mean that I'm going to hang up the hood."

"It doesn't?" Felicity hopefully asked. Oliver grinned at her, flustering her. "I mean, I hoped that you wouldn't. We were really starting to make a difference, I think, before we got so caught up in stopping the Undertaking."

"I agree with Felicity," Digg said. "Just because the Glades wasn't destroyed doesn't mean that it doesn't still need help. Maybe now more than ever."

Digg's eye was caught by something over Tommy's shoulder. He balled up his napkin and tossed it on his plate. 

"I told AJ that I'd pick him up from school today. He's getting out early for some reason or another. I think he's just being overprotective after last night." Digg winced as he stood from the booth.

"I didn't get to ask," Tommy said. "How are you doing?"

"I'll be fine. Nothing major was hit. I'll just be moving a bit slower for a little while."

Tommy watched as he limped past him, presumably to say goodbye to Carly, before heading out.

Felicity was studiously avoiding eye contact with them when Tommy looked over at her. 

"I should be going, too," she said, dropping the fry she'd been playing with. "I need to get back to work."

Tommy reached out, grabbing her hand. "Can you give us a few more minutes?"

Oliver reached for her other hand, but she pulled both of them into her lap.

"Felicity?" Oliver asked, the hurt evident in his voice.

She blinked and then looked at them each in turn. With a steady voice, she said, "There isn't going to be a repeat of last night."

Tommy and Oliver blinked several times and exchanged looks with each other before turning back to her.

"What happened to change your mind?" Tommy asked.

"Did you not have a good time?" Oliver asked.

Felicity's expression softened. "It's not that I didn't have fun. I did. With both of you, but…"

"But what?" Oliver pressed.

"Growing up, I watched my mom date all of these different men. If 'date' is even the right word for it. She never had a relationship that lasted more than a few weeks, but she liked sex. A lot. She's never been afraid to talk to me about sex and encouraged me to date so that I could know how great sex could be. But the thing is, it was always just sex for her. She never let herself get attached. I'm not like her. I get attached."

She took a deep breath and smiled sadly.

"I care about you. Both of you. You've been very honest with me from the beginning that you're just looking for occasional sex from me. And as much fun as it was last night - probably the best sex I've ever had, to be honest - I am at risk for caring more than I should. Don't worry, I'm not there yet, but if we continued to sleep together, even only once in a while, I know myself well enough to know that I could fall in love with you guys, and, if you're not going to reciprocate then I'm going to stop now to avoid the heartbreak."

Tommy and Oliver looked at each other and Tommy felt like a cad. He'd suspected Felicity had a heart that was too big for her own good, and it looked like he was right. That big heart of hers couldn't let her have a casual sexual relationship. Something he couldn't blame her for. She deserved to be in a loving relationship where she got everything she needed from a partner. He certainly wasn't going to stand in the way of that.

At Oliver's slight nod, Tommy said, "Thank you for being honest with us. I can't say we're not disappointed, but we understand."

"We want what's best for you, Felicity," Oliver added. "And since it won't be with us, we want you to be open to finding it with someone who you can fall in love with, who will love you the way you deserve to be loved."

Felicity sniffled, tears shining in her eyes behind her glasses. She reached for their hands then, squeezing them. "Thank you for understanding."

"And in the meantime, if you ever need or want to have some hot, naked, fun with a couple of friends, you know who to call," Tommy offered, smirking.

Felicity hiccupped and laughed, wiping her eyes. "I'll keep that in mind. Now I really do need to get back to the office."

She scooted out of the booth and leaned across to give each of them a kiss on the cheek before scampering out the door.

"And then there were two," Tommy said, turning to Oliver. "I don't know about you, but I could use a nap."

"I'm afraid that's going to have to wait," Oliver said and signaled for the bill. Carly came over a few seconds later. Oliver pulled out his wallet but she waved him off. 

"You can put that away. John took care of it already," she told them.

"He shouldn't have done that," Oliver griped. 

"He said you'd say that, which is why he did it. I don't know what you guys got up to last night, but he was feeling generous, despite having come out of it with several stab wounds and bruises," Carly ranted.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm not in much better shape myself," Oliver said, encouraging Tommy out of the booth and then standing himself.

"It does," Carly said, smiling, before returning to the counter.

Oliver left a generous tip on the table and led Tommy out and to the car, tossing him the keys as they approached it.

"Where to if not home?" Tommy asked.

"Verdant," Oliver said. "We've still got a club in the Glades to run. I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of people out tonight who are celebrating being alive, now that the panic is over."

"And you're hoping Thea will come?" Tommy guessed, heading towards the club.

"Yeah," Oliver agreed. "So what did the Board of Directors want?"

"To make me CEO," Tommy said.

Oliver laughed, but then sobered when Tommy didn't join in. "You're not kidding."

"I'm not kidding," Tommy said. 

"But you only worked there for a few weeks," Oliver stated.

"I know. It's one of the things I pointed out to them. We all agreed that it was in their best interest for me not to take over the company," Tommy said.

"Then why did they even offer it to you?" Oliver asked. 

"Apparently it was my father's wish that should anything happen to him that I take over," Tommy said with a shrug. "I don't think that he expected that to happen so soon."

"So who's going to do it?" Oliver asked.

"The Senior VP," Tommy said. "Also, I quit."

"How did you quit? You never really worked there," Oliver said.

"They didn't know that," Tommy said. "I told them that I was going back to managing the hottest club in the city."

"I'm glad you're back," Oliver said, capturing Tommy's hand. "I was just starting to get used to having you around all the time when you suddenly had to spend most of your days somewhere else."

"Well, now I'm all yours," Tommy said, pulling into his usual spot behind Verdant and turning off the car.

"You always were," Oliver said, trailing his hand up Tommy's arm to grasp the back of his neck and pull him closer.

"Ain't that the truth," Tommy breathed against Oliver's lips before sealing their mouths together in a heated kiss.

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned for the Coda.


	9. Coda

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place during 2x13 (Heir to the Demon). Some dialogue borrowed from the episode.

Tommy found it a bit surreal to be standing in a room full of _Moira Queen for Mayor_ signs when nine months ago she had been arrested for conspiracy to commit an act of domestic terrorism.

He'd stood by Oliver's side throughout Moira's trial, sitting beside him whenever court was in session. He'd been there when Moira confessed to having had a brief affair with his father shortly after his mom died.

Tommy looked to where Oliver was talking with Digg and Felicity and his heart swelled. Their relationship was stronger than ever. Oliver had officially moved in with him six months ago and they had settled into a comfortable routine. 

Oliver had reluctantly stepped into the CEO role at Queen Consolidated during his mother's trial. Despite his arguments that he wasn't suited for the job, Moira had convinced him that a Queen should be at the helm and she would advise him as needed. Oliver in turn had dragged Felicity along as his Executive Assistant. A job change she was not happy about. 

Tommy still managed Verdant and had brought Thea in as his assistant manager when she begged for a job the summer after she graduated high school. She'd insisted that college wasn't for her, going so far as using Oliver as an example of being successful without a Bachelor's degree. And with her came Roy.

Roy, who was now part of the team. He'd still been relentlessly trying to find out who the Arrow, as Oliver was now calling his alter-ego, was. After he'd been injected with mirakuru, the team kept a close watch on him and recently Oliver needed to reveal himself to Roy after he'd followed him into a fight. He was eager to learn from Oliver, but had a quick temper.

Focusing back on the present, Tommy moved next to Oliver, squeezing his shoulder in greeting as Digg said, "I'm on it," and left.

Before Tommy could ask what that had been about, Moira and Thea joined them.

"Oliver, Tommy," she greeted them warmly, then a little cooler added, "Felicity."

"Hi," Oliver said to his mother and then to Thea, "hi."

"Ohh," Moira sighed. "Well, I haven't been this nervous since my wedding day. Both of them." She laughed nervously.

"Moira, it's time," her campaign advisor said, interrupting. "Oliver, are you ready to introduce your mother?" 

"With pride," he said, beaming. Moira turned to go the dais, giving Felicity a cold look that Felicity echoed before turning away.

"Felicity?" Oliver asked as they followed her. "Fe-li-ci-ty. What is going on with you? And don't say--"

"Nothing," Felicity interrupted him.

"Don't say 'nothing.' The truth, please."

"Might have noticed that I talk a lot," she said, looking between them. 

"It has not escaped my attention," Oliver agreed.

"You might have also noticed that I don't talk a lot about my family," she added. 

"We have noticed that," Tommy said.

"My mother is... She's... She's my mother. And, I don't really know what my father is, 'cause he abandoned us. I barely remember him. But I do remember... How much it hurt when he left. And just the thought of losing someone that important to me again…" she trailed off, obviously conflicted.

"Hey. You're not going to lose me," Oliver said, resting his hands on her biceps. 

"Us," Tommy corrected, replacing one of Oliver's hands. 

"Whatever it is that's bothering you... Is it about your family?" Oliver asked. 

"No. It's about yours. Both of yours," she said, meeting Oliver's eyes and then Tommy's. "Do you remember that I had been looking into some things for Walter before he was kidnapped last year?" 

"I remember," Oliver confirmed.

"One of them was a company called Tempest that turned out to be your mother's. I won't go into the details, but recently an embedded account alert I'd left on it notified me of a large wire transfer to Starling National Bank."

"I don't see the problem," Tommy said.

Felicity licked her lips. "Last night I went to see Mrs. Queen, to confront her about the transfer. I figured it out, you see. The danger of being a curious genius. I couldn't let it be. I wanted to give her the opportunity to tell you herself, but she said that she wouldn't tell you and she said that I wouldn't tell you either because you'd never speak to me again..." She stopped to choke back a sob.

"Felicity, you're scaring me. Nothing can be so terrible that I would stop speaking to you because you told me the truth," Oliver promised, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

"The money went to the obstetrician who delivered Thea, one year after Moira had an affair with Malcolm Merlyn." She waited for that information to sink in. "Malcolm is Thea's father."

"Thea's my half-sister," Tommy whispered, grabbing onto Oliver for support as his world just turned upside down.

Felicity nodded. "I don't know how she managed to keep it secret during the trial, but I'm guessing that she was afraid that this would get dredged up during the election so she paid for the doctor's silence."

Oliver had remained silent, his body having stiffened along with his facial expression as he shut down. 

Sound rushed back in around Tommy, who felt like the three of them had been in a sound-proof bubble for the past few minutes. 

Walter was at the podium preparing to introduce Oliver. "I say this with confidence. Because the Moira Queen that I know is more than a successful CEO and philanthropist. She is a loving mother who has devoted her life to raising two wonderful children. Just to tell you how special she is, I'd like to welcome her son. CEO of Queen Consolidated, Mr. Oliver Queen." 

Oliver turned stiffly, giving Tommy's hand a quick squeeze as he mechanically moved to the dais. Tommy and Felicity watched him nervously.

Oliver blew out a breath before he began to speak. 

"Thank you. Well, I'm here today to say a few words about Moira Queen. I bet many of you think that you know her, because you read about her in the press, or you saw her on TV. But I can promise you; you don't know my mother." Tommy held his breath. He hoped that he was the only one who could hear the anger underneath the words. "You don't know her like I do. And you don't know what she's capable of…" Oliver seemed to push past his emotions and was able to bring some energy to his speech. "When it comes to helping the people of Starling City. Ladies and gentlemen, my mother, Moira Queen." 

Oliver leaned over to whisper something in Moira's ear under the guise of kissing her cheek, but Tommy could only guess what it was.

Moira looked a little flustered but quickly recovered as she stepped up to the microphone. "Thank you! Thank you, Starling City."

Oliver stepped down from the dais and returned to them. "Let's get out of here," he growled, leading the way.

They walked Felicity to her car and assured her that they weren't angry with her. Oliver squeezed her hand. "I promise, we're good."

Tommy pulled her into a hug. "Thank you, Felicity. As much as it's a shock, it's a really good one. I've always thought of her that way and now it's true."

Felicity sniffed and wiped at her eyes as she pulled back. "Okay. Okay. I'll see you back at the Foundry. I just need to make one stop on the way." 

He and Oliver were silent for most of the drive back to the Foundry, each lost in their own thoughts about what this revelation meant.

Thea was his sister, was the thought that kept running through Tommy's head. He had a sister. He'd always been envious of Oliver's relationship with Thea growing up, having longed for a sibling to play with during those long and lonely years after his mom died. He'd always pretended that Thea was his sister too, and now it was real. 

Of course, that also meant that she was Malcolm's daughter. If his father knew about this, then he would try to claim her. He was a selfish and greedy bastard and would want to stamp his name on Thea like she was his property. Tommy often daydreamed that he and Oliver were already married just so that he could change his last name so that he no longer would be associated with that psychopath.

"We should talk about this," Tommy said as they descended into the basement.

"We will," Oliver promised, "but we need to help Sara find her mom first. Then I'll confront my mom."

"I'm coming with you," Tommy demanded. "This involves me, too. She's my sister, too." Tommy had to blink back tears as his emotions nearly overwhelmed him saying it out loud.

Oliver wrapped his arms around Tommy, pulling him into his chest. "Yeah, I guess she is."

"We have to tell her," Tommy insisted.

"Tommy," Oliver objected. "I don't know if that's a smart idea. If your father found out…"

"I'm not saying we announce it to the world," Tommy said. "But she needs to know the truth. You know how she feels about lies, and she'll know if we start acting differently towards her. Which we will. Not on purpose, but we're always going to see her as Malcolm's daughter now. Also, she needs to know what she's up against if he ever does learn the truth."

"She just barely started speaking to our mother again. How can I ruin that relationship by telling her this?" Oliver asked.

"Has this news ruined your relationship with your mother?" Tommy asked.

"Yes," Oliver snarled. "After everything that I learned about her last year, this is just the final straw. After we confront her, I'm done with her."

"Thea deserves the chance to make that same choice," Tommy insisted. "Look at it this way, if we don't tell her and she finds out later that we knew and didn't say anything, she'll hate us more for it."

Oliver sagged. "You're right. When did you get to know my little sister so well, anyway?"

"Our little sister," Tommy corrected him. "I guess it was while you were dead. I was still around for her during those five years and watched as she grew into the snarky and stubborn woman she is now."

"Alright, we'll tell her, but not tonight," Oliver finally agreed.

~~*~~

Moira was watching a newscast of her speech when they entered the room at Queen Manor.

"I know we need to talk," Moira said, turning the television off.

"You need to listen," Oliver insisted. "For the past year, I have stood by your side. And I have fought, because I wanted to believe that you weren't this... Monster. And I needed to believe that I still had a mother." 

"You do, Oliver--" she was quick to protest. "Oliver, I only lied about Thea to protect her from Malcolm." 

"No, you lied because that is what you do. And that is who you are, Mom. Lies."

"What about me?" Tommy demanded. "Did she need protection from me?"

Moira reached for Tommy but he stepped back, closer to Oliver. "Of course not. You two were always so close, as close as real siblings, so that I didn't think anything needed to be said. You already had that relationship, what difference would telling you have made?"

"When I was feeling like I had no family that loved me, it would have made all the difference in the world," Tommy admitted.

"You will not make a liar out of me. Thea needs to be told about Merlyn. He is still out there, somewhere, and she needs to know just how dangerous he is so that she can protect herself."

"We can protect her. She doesn't need to know," Moira practically begged.

"As of right now, we have no relationship. Publicly, I will support your campaign. But privately; you and I are done."

"Oliver. Tommy." They left without another word as Moira called after them, "Oliver!"

~~*~~

The next afternoon, Tommy watched Thea as she re-stocked the bar. "Hey, Thea, can you come up here for a minute?" he called down to her.

"Sure thing, boss," Thea called back, wiping her hands on a rag and climbing the stairs. "What's up?"

"Let's talk in my office," Tommy suggested, gesturing towards the open door.

Oliver was waiting inside, looking serious.

"Am I being fired?" Thea nervously asked. "You can't be telling me that you're getting married, not with Oliver wearing that look on his face."

"Speedy," Oliver admonished her. She stuck her tongue out at him and Tommy's heart clenched at the natural sibling interaction. God, how he wished he'd been able to have that actual relationship with Thea instead of the pseudo one they'd grown up with.

"This isn't about work," Tommy said.

"And this isn't about our relationship," Oliver added. "I think you should sit down."

"What's going on?" Thea asked, sitting on the couch. Tommy and Oliver sat so both could face her - Oliver on the couch and Tommy on the coffee table. "And do you know why mom was acting so weird this morning?"

"She was?" Oliver asked. "What did she say?"

"Just that she wanted to make sure I knew that she loved me," Thea said. "Kinda freaked me out. She was super intense about it."

"It has to do with something she doesn't want to come to light during the election," Oliver said.

"We learned something yesterday, something that she has been hiding for many years," Tommy said. "Something that affects all of us."

Thea braced herself. "Tell me already, you're making me nervous."

"What we found out is that you're not just my sister, but you're also Tommy's," Oliver said as gently as he could.

Thea scrunched her face up in confusion. "Well, of course Tommy's always been like a brother to me."

"Not like a brother," Tommy said. "It turns out that I'm your half-brother."

"But that would mean--" Thea stood up, her confusion quickly turning to anger. "Malcolm Merlyn is my father?"

Tommy and Oliver shot to their feet. "I'm afraid so," Tommy said.

"That lying bitch," Thea fumed. "I always suspected there was more to her relationship with Malcolm than she let on. No matter how many times she denied it, I knew she was lying about something."

"We don't think she had a long-term affair with him," Oliver said. "We do believe that it was just that time she mentioned during her trial. I'm embarrassed that we didn't figure it out sooner, given the timing of the affair."

"So I'm the child of a psychotic murderer and a liar," Thea spat. "That doesn't give me much hope."

"Hey, don't say that," Oliver rushed to say.

"At least you weren't raised by the psychotic murderer," Tommy offered. "Not all of us can say that. You are free from the weight of having his last name."

Thea's eyes widened as the other part of this news dawned on her. "You're my brother!"

She threw herself at Tommy, wrapping her arms around him. Tommy gratefully hugged her back. This was what he had been waiting for.

"Oh, God, I tried to kiss you," Thea blurted out, stepping back. 

"Bet you're glad that I stopped you now," Tommy said, relaxing and slipping an arm around Oliver's waist. Oliver's arm came up around his shoulders.

Looking a little lost, Thea asked, "What am I supposed to do now?"

"Whatever you want," Oliver said. "While Malcolm is on the run now, it doesn't mean that he won't discover the truth one day and come for you. We wanted you to be prepared in case that day ever came."

"What about _her_?" Thea spat.

"It's up to you," Tommy said. "Confront her and see what she has to say for herself."

"She'll just tell me more lies," Thea said. 

"Then don't say anything to her," Oliver suggested. "We just wanted you to know the truth from people who love and support you, no matter what."

"Thank you," Thea said, her words heavy with gratitude. "Thank you for not lying to me about who I am."

"Who you are has not changed," Tommy insisted. "You are the same amazing young woman you were an hour ago. All that's changed is that you've gained a brother who already loves you."

"We are one fucked up family," Thea said. "My two brothers are screwing each other and I used to have a crush on one of them."

"At least Tommy and I aren't related too, 'cause then we'd really be in trouble," Oliver pointed out.

"What do you say to all of us taking the night off, going back to our place and watching movies?" Tommy suggested. "We can leave Roy in charge."

"Say there will be wine and I'm in," Thea agreed.

"I think you're too young for me to say that," Oliver teased. "But I'm pretty sure there is wine in the apartment."

"Don't make me regret saying yes," Thea said. "I better go call Roy in early. Meet you downstairs." She paused at the doorway and looked at them over her shoulder. "I'm going to be okay."

Once she had left the room, Tommy let out a sigh of relief. "She took that better than I expected."

"Give her a day or two," Oliver said. "She'll get more upset once she's had some time to process."

"When do you think we should tell her our other news?" Tommy asked, wrapping his arms around Oliver.

Oliver smiled and returned the embrace. "We can tell her to cheer her up after she blows up at my mom."

Tommy met Oliver in a soft kiss that soon became heated. Oliver had just slipped his tongue past Tommy's lips when Thea's voice called up to them to hurry up.

"I can't wait to be Tommy Queen," Tommy said.

Oliver groaned his agreement as he stole another quick kiss. "I do like the sound of that."

 

Fin


End file.
